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CANADIAN BOOKMAN

BOOKS OF PERMANENT VALUE

FICTION

"GONE TO EARTH"

Mary Webb.

The N-Y. "Sun "This

is une of the greatest novel

modern times.'

$1.50.

"THE FOUR HORSE-MEN OF

THE APOCALYPSE."

Ibanez.

One of the classics of the war.
Now in its 5th edition. $1.90.

"BEFORE THE WIND"
("Wrack-Straws")
By
Janet Laing.

Miss Laing's creations are skil-
fully handled and amusing. $1 50.

"THE PATHETIC SNOBS"

Dolf Wyllarde.

This author needs no intro.
duction. $1.50.

"THE WAR EAGLE"
By
W. J. Dawson.

The author of "Shenstone"
lives up to his reputation in this
delightful book. $1.50.

UNDER FIRE"
By-
Henri Barbusse.

novel of

Still the outstandin
the war. $1.50.

JUVENILES.

We have such a wide range of
exclusive and artistic Juveniles.
that we find it impossible to list
them here. Ask for JUVENILE
CATALOGUE.

POETRY GENERAL

"TROPICAL TOWN"

"and OTHER POEMS."

Salomon de la Selva.

•GARDEN OVERSEAS

snd OTHER POEMS."

Thomas Walsh.

"HORIZONS"
BOOK OF CRITICISM.
By
Francis Hackett

A truly wonderful volume of
tys. $2.00.

$1.25

"ViMY RIDGE
end NEW POEMS"
By
Alfred Gordon
(Of Montreal).
Mr. Gordon's Work is
known to lovers of poetry.

"SPUNYARN and
SPINDRIFT"

By
Norah M. Holland.
In th • opinion of a most fear-
less critic Canada's Greatest Poet.
$1.50.

"POETS OF MODERN
FRANCE"

L. Lewisohn.

A rare book of rare value, $1.50.

"MESSINES and OTHER

POEMS"

Emile Cammaerts.

The great Belgian singer.

$1.25.

Si nd for our CATALOGUE of
BOOKS of POETRY selected
from many lists, and all of
which we will carry in stock.

SECOND and POPULAR
EDITION of

"THE CLASH"

William H. Moore.

Published in September.

Tin' most talked of and Heat-
edly discussed Canadian 1 k of

Modern Times.

Third large edition already ne-
cessary. $1.75.

"LIGHTED WINDOWS"

Dr. Frank Crane.

A book of good cheer and corn-
fur! by a well-known and popu-
lar author. $1 25.

"ILLUSIONS and REALITIES"

By
Francis Grierson.
wf?U Author of "The Invincible Al-

11.25. lianee." etc. $1.25.

"THE GOVERNMENT OF THE
BRITISH EMPIRE"
By
Edward Jenks.
A comprehensive view of the
system under which the Empire
iverned. expresed in simple,
untechnical language. $2.00

'LABOUR and CAPITAL AFTER

THE WAR"

Edited by

S. J. Cbapman, C.B.E.

$2.00.

"THE NEW BOOK OF

MARTYRS"

Georges Duhamel.

With "Under Fire" this great
French work will live for all
time. $1.50.

"EVERYMAN'S LIBRARY."

740 Titles— Cloth 60c.
Leather and Pigskin, $1.25.

Dickens-Scott — in fact every
title that you would like to se-
lect for your friends.

"WAYFARERS' LIBRARY"
100 Titles.

A selection of the best MOD.
ERNS.

Send for our CATALOGUE of
these LIBRARIES. Over 20,000..
000 sold to date.

ll»ll«H>ll| > ■ ■ t*

AT ALL BOOKSELLERS, OR

J. M. DENT & SONS, LTD., Publishers

LONDON, ENGLAND and
2fc and 27 Melinda Street - - - TORONTO

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

A Quarterly devoted to Literature, the Library and the Printed Hook.

B. K. SANDWELL, - - - EDITOR

EDITORIAL COMMITTEE

J. A. DALE, Professor of Education, McGill University
H. T. FALK, Lecturer on Social Service, McGill Uni-
versity.

HON. W. S. FIELDING, Editor Canadian Journal of
Commerce, formerly Finance Minister of the Domin-
ion of Canada.

J. M. GIBBON, General Advertising Agent C. P. R.,
formerly editor of "Black and White."

I. J. HARPELL, President of the Industrial & Educa-
tional Press.

R. E. HORE, Editor Canadian Mining Journal.
F. S. KEITH, Secretary of the Canadian Society of Civil
Engineer?.

W. LOCIIHEAD, Professor of Biology, Agricultural
Dept., McGill University.

GEORGE H. LOCKE, Chiel Librarian, Toronto Public

Library.

0. D. SKELTON, Professor of Political Science, Queens
University.

A. STANSFIELD, Professor of Metallurgy, McGill
University, Editor "Iron and Steel.

J. N. STEPHENSON, Editor Pulp and Paper Maga
W. LAIRD TURNER, Editor Canadian Textile Journal.
CAPTAIN F. WILLIAM WALLACE, Editor Canadian
Fisherman.

EDITORIAL OFFICE, B. 30 BOARD OF TRADE BUILDING, MONTREAL

THE CANADIAN BOOKMAN is published quarterly by the Industrial & Educational Press Limited, at the Garden

City Press, Ste. Anne de Bellevue, P.Q.

J. J. HARPELL, President and Managing Director
A. LONGWELL, Vice-President

A. S. CHRISTIE, Eastern Manager,

B 30 Board of Trade Building, Montreal
H. W. THOMPSON, Western Manager.

614 C.P.R. BuiMing, Toronto

SINGLE COPY 50 CTS.
NEW SERIES

Ste. Anne de Bellevue, P.Q., January, 1919

$1.50 PER ANNUM

CONTENTS

The Canadian Bookman — A Salutation 1

Bookishness in Canada 2

The Need for More Bookishness in Canada 4

A Symposium by President E. W. Beatty (Canadian Pacific Railway); Sir William
Peterson; the Bishop of Ontario; Sir Robert Falconer; the Dean of Halifax; the
Premier ol Ontario; the Principal of Upper Canada College; The Provincial Treasurer
of Ontario; Professor E. F. Scott (Queen's University); the Bishop of Montreal; Pro-
fessor S. H. Hooke (Victoria College, Toronto); the Principal of University College,
Toronto.

The Book Agent, by Stephen Leacock IT

Why Neglect Early Canadians? by R. H. Hathaway 20

Some Canadian Illustrators, by St. George Burgoyne 21

Rhymes With and Without Reason, by J. M. Gibbon 26

Francis Grierson, by Jean S. Foley 35

Potted Prejudices, by Warwick Chipman 40

Revery of a Bookish Librarian, by George H. Locke 42

Out of the Storm: Poem, by .). A. Dale 43

Clio in Canada, 1918: A Review of Historical Publications of the Year by \V. S.

Wallace 4 4

A Desirable Compromise: Verse, by J. E. Middleton 4C

For War Doubts: Verse, by W. D. Lighthall 46

Canadian Publishers and War Propaganda, by Hugh S. Eayrs 47

H. G. Wells Again Incandescent ("Joan and Peter") by J. A. Dale 49

.1. M. Gibbon's "Drums Afar": A Review 51

Fisheries of the North Sea, by F. William Wallace :,.!

/ Some Recent Canadian Verse, by J. A. Dale 53

Twentieth Century Librarianship, by Mary J. L. Black 58

Library Notes 59

J. T. M. Anderson's "The Education of the New Canadian," by H. T. Falk 62

Notre Dame de Montreal: Poem by Margaret Hilda Wise 63

Mining Books 65

Canada's First Publishing House (the Methodist Book Room), by E. .1. Moore .... 71

Books on Metallurgy, by Alfred Stansfield 74

Labour and Capital After the War, by Howard T. Falk 76

A Lesson for Canadian Cities, by W. D. Lighthall 7,

Making Farmers Into "Big Business," by W. Lochhead 78

"This Way Out of Chaos," by O. D. Skelton 80

Among the Booksellers 83

CANADIAN BOOKMAN January, 1919.

minimi

THE CHRISTMAS GIFT PAR EXCELLENCE

DRUMS AFAR

JOHN MURRAY GIBBON

Author of "Hearts and Faces."
Third Canadian Edition. Cloth. $1.50, Net.

, i

"Drums Afar" is the spiritual pilgrimage of a
young English Oxford student who goes over the
regular course and learns many things without
realizing iust why he is learning them — among
them, how to love an American girl of very com-
pelling personality (the most vital portrait the au-
thor has yet done) — and finally grasps the meaning
of his life when his country calls to him at the out-
break of the Great War. To the woman the vision
comes later; and the very poignant situation which
arises when the man follows his duty to his country
and himself is treated with great dramatic force and
earnestness.

Montreal in the early days of the war provides
a very vivid background for the most dramatic pas-
sages of the love-story-

B. K. SAND WELL,

In The Canadian Magazine.

AT THE BOOKSELLERS

S. B. GUNDY

TORONTO, - CANADA

January, L919.

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

PUBLISHER'S PAGE

INTRODUCING THE

Canadian Bookman's Bookmen

Publishers.

B. K. SANDWELL,
Editor of the "Canadian Bookman.'

A brief ton Tll(. ,.,|lt„,.s .,„,| rea(jera ,,, „,„.., ., ,„.m„i,.

WOrd by Hie cal as the "Canadian Bookman" Bhould bi
on a footing of mutual friendship and con-
fidence. Such a footing ca ily be estab-
lished by ans of an introduction; and

realizing that the native modesty of the
species will effectually prevent the Editoi
and t lie Editorial Committee of the "Book
man'' from introducing themselves, the
Publishers are herewith taking up the
task.

Owing i" the wide variety of interests
solved by the "Canadian Bookman," whi ■
undertakes to acl as a guide to the litera
t »e of the industries as well as of the arts,
the Editor must be a man of wide reading
and experience. Such an Editor the Pub-
lishers have found in Mr. B. K. Sandwell,
who since 1M0 has been Associate Editor
and Editor of the Financial Times, of Mont-
real, who is a Member of the American
Academy of Political and Social Science, who
is Lecturer on the History of Commerce iu
Motrin University School of Commerce, and
Lecturer on Journalism in McGill University
Extension Department, and who moreover in
the opinion of those competent to judge is
one of the best read men in Canada today.
Although born in England, Mr. Sandwell
came with his father to Toronto at the age
of 11, in 1888, and as he has lived in Canada
for nearly thirty years can surely be claimed
as Canadian. Educated at Upper Canada
College, where he rose to be head of the

school, he proceeded to Toronto University, where he graduated with first class
honours in classics in 1897. After three years of journalistic work in England.
Mr. Sandwell joined the staff of the Montreal Herald, where he served for
nine consecutive years, chiefly as dramatic and literary critic. Tn 1910 he as-
sisted in the foundation of the Financial Times, which owes its success in no
small degree to his brilliant pen.

A frequent contributor to Canadian and American periodicals, Mr. Sandwell 's
humour has also penetrated less capitalistic skins, through the columns of the
Canadian Magazine, World 's Work, University Magazine, etc. Always keenly
interested in the drama. Mr. Sandwell was one of the judges of the Earl Grey
Dramatic Competition. Add to those qualifications the fact that he is an ac-
complished musician, and you realize that the Publishers and readers of the
"Canadian Bookman" have reason to congratulate themselves on their good
fortune in securing so versatile an Editor.

The Publishers feel that they have also been fortunate in enlisting the services
of a very strong Editorial Committee, which will be made yet stronger as occa-
sion requires by the addition of recognized experts upon branches of technical
and specialist literature not yet represented. The complete list of this Com-
mittee will be found on the index page, and it will be seen that they are all
men who combine the two necessary qualifications of a first-class knowledge
of their subject or subjects, and a thoroughly practiced hand in writing about
them. Several of the members of this Committee, however, are men who in ad-
dition to their specialist qualifications, are well known throughout Canada for
their services to general culture, correct thinking and spiritual growth, and
who have welcomed the opportunity to perform some of these services through
the columns of the "Canadian Bookman." Foremost among these is Profes-
sor J. A. Dale, whose co-operation has been invaluable in the production of the
first issue of this magazine, and whose absence for a brief period upon educa-
tional work among the Canadian troops during the term of demobilization will
not prevent him from making his personality felt in the "Bookman" in the
coming year. Others whose presence on the Committee is similarly the result
of a deep interest in the progress of Canadian thought and culture are the Hon.
W. S. Fielding, formerly Finance Minister of Canada, and Dr. George H. Locke,
the inspirational Chief' Librarian of the City of Toronto, and the Dominion's
most eloquent apostle of Literature.

With smh co-operation as this, the Publishers are launching the "Canadian
Bookman" upon its career in the full confidence that it will serve a useful
and will therefore achieve a deserved success.

purpose.

GARDEN CITY PRESS

STE, ANNE DE BELLEVUE, QUE.

THE* PUBLISHERS

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

January, 1919.

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

The New Era

The first issue of the new Canadian Book-
man appears at a moment which happens also
to mark the beginning of a new era in the his-
tory of mankind, and, very particularly, in the
history of Canada. That this is so is not by
design. The date of this first issue was planned
many months ago, long before there was any
hope that November, 1918, would see the col-
lapse of the Teutonic Alliance and the com-
mencement of the return to a state of peace.
On the other hand, it is not wholly a coinci-
dence.

The world at large, and Canada in especial,
during the generation preceding 1914, passed
through an age of extreme pre-occupation in
"practical" affairs. It was an age of immense-
ly rapid development of material wealth and
enlargement of man's command of the resources
of the planet; an era of intense competition to
obtain the benefit of those resources; an era of
trust in those resources as the sufficient foun-
dation of human happiness. This era came to
an end in a way which, we now see, was prob-
ably the only way in which it could end. Its in-
tense competition, and the pride and self-con-
fidence which it bred in some of the most sue
eessful of the competitors (and this does not
refer exclusively to Germany, for while Ger-
many began the war, many other nations made
the war possible — a world state-of-mind, so to
speak, was its begetter), led to culminate in a
four-year struggle in which absolute force was
the sole decisive factor in the destinies of the
world. We have lived through that terrible
period. We have seen our own country per-
form its full share in that conflict, we have
learned the lessons which can be taught only by
suffering and sacrifice glorified by a noble
cause, and we have seen the conflict end, as
any long-drawn-out conflict of the kind must
end. in the victory of the side whose force was
backed up by the moral strength of a high and
noble principle. And we stand today, along
with the other great nations of a purified world,
at the beginning of a new era which will cer-
tainly be vastly different from both the era of
foi and the era of materialism which preced-
ed it.

It is too early yet to forecast the character of
this new era with any precision. But it does
not seem too early to be confident that it will
be in one respect an era of ideas, an era of pro-

found and general thought, not about the pure-
ly material problems which preoccupied us un-
til four years ago, but about the more im-
portant things — the nature and purpose of
life, the relation of man to his fellows and to
his Creator, the meaning of the human race and
its slow and painful but evident upward pro-
gress, the contribution of each nation and each
individual to the sum total of the achievement
of humanity.

And if this era is to be an era of ideas, it fol-
lows that it is to be also an era of books, since
books are the one great medium through which
ideas of communicated and perpetuated. Not
the purely material books which have over-
occupied our attention for more than a genera-
tion — though science will obviously have still
its honoured part to play. Not, certainly, the
merely sentimental, narcotic, idea-less books,
miscalled books of the imagination, which have
formed the literary food of too many of us who
did not wish to be bothered with ideas. But
real books, containing real ideas about the im-
portant things of life, whether expressed in the
form of fiction, or of religion, or of philosophy,
or of poetry, or of history, or of science in the
broader and deeper sense of the word. It was
this conviction, of the coming of an era of ideas
and of books, which was strong in the minds of
the founders of the new Canadian Bookman and
which led them to select the present as an ap-
propriate time even though when they selected
it it seemed unlikely to be a time of peace, for
the establishment of a purely Canadian perio-
dical which should deal with them, not as mass-
es of paper and binding, nor as so many square
inches of type, nor as speculative adventures in
search for "best-sellers", but as the vessels for
the containing and the imparting of ideas —
and of ideas suited to the uses of Canadian
readers. In this sense, the appearance of the
Canadian Bookman at the very dawn of this
new era is not a mere coincidence. The Cana-
dian Bookman is itself one of the phenomena of
the new era.

Evidences of the dawn of such an era as we
have described are plentiful enough. We at
home in Canada can see them in the character
of the books on the front shelves of our book
stores, and in the drawing-rooms and studies
of our friends. We can see them in the con-
versation of the social gatherings, in the fre-
quentation of our public libraries, in the growth

January, 191£

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

■ ml new vigour of cultural societies, in the ser
mons in our churches, the teaching in our
schools. And ye1 we ser only a fraction of

them. The best of our youth is still far from
us, in Prance and Flanders or in training
camps and hospitals on the road to and from
the battle-fields, and it is their mentality which
will make the mentality of Canada when they
return to us. And if all accounts agree, the
life of camp and battle-field has produced
in their minds such a ferment of ideas and
curiosities, such an interest in the things of the
spirit ; such an eager open-mindedncss, as could
never have been produced in fifty years of
peace. Mr. J. M. Dent, the noble English pub-
lisher whose cheap editions of real books have
been among the greatest gifts that modern
science has made to mankind, was in this coun-
try recently, and reported that army life had
produced, both among British and Canadian
troops, an immense new interest in literature
and ideas. Nor is this surprising, contrary
it may be to past experience of war. This war
has been fought, for the first time in history,
by absolutely democratic armies, in which rich
and poor, educated and uneducated, cultured
and uncultured, have fought side by side in the
iron-closed brotherhood of common peril. Each
class has learned to understand and value the
other, in a way that our peace-time conditions
have never allowed. The man who knew noth-
ing of books, and in old cared nothing for them,
has seen with his own eyes, in the person of his
own chum, what books and a knowledge of

books may mean to the spirit of man in hour

■ ■I luffering and peri! And he who has
this will never be contemptuous of books again,

nor his children after him.

To this new interest in ideas, and in the
books which convey them, there is added in the
Case of ( 'a i i.idians a neu national self-conscious
ness. a new demand that idea- he judged not by
the standards of any other nation, however
closely allied by kinship or economic circum-
stance, but by the standards of our own coun-
try; a new output of ideas by Canadians them-
selves, and a new belief in those ideas as being
probably the best expression of Canadian re-
quirements, the best solution of Canadian prob-
lems and a consequent new demand for ve-
hicles of criticism and discussion concerning
this purely Canadian output.

At such a moment, it seems to us, the under-
taking of the new Canadian Bookman is
justified. Like most periodicals in the hour of
birth, it is not likely that it realises in its first
issue, oi' will realise perhaps for many issues to
come, all the ideals of its projectors. Some of
them cannot be realised without the assistance
of a considerable body of readers, and of more
friends that can be counted on by any publica-
tion before its first appearance — albeit the
Canadian Bookman has already received such
indications of friendship and kindly co-opera-
tion from Canadians in all walks of life and all
parts of Canada and elsewhere as to prove that
there is a widespread desire for the service
which we aim to render.

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

January. 1910.

Bookishness in Canada

There is too little Bookishness in Canada.

We make no apology for using the word Bookishness in a
favorable sense, to describe something which we believe any
nation needs, in due proportion, for its proper intellectual and
spiritual development. Canadians have too long contrasted
Bookishness and Actuality, Bookishness and Experience, even
Bookishness and Business, as if one alone of the two terms had
any reference to what is real and important in life. It is time to
recall that there is a knowledge, and a highly valuable know-
ledge, which can only be derived from books, just as there is also
a knowledge which can only be derived from experiences and
personal contacts, and that the wise man is he who blends these
two knowledges in due proportions, not the man who wholly and
contemptuously neglects either of them.

There is too little Bookishness in Canada. The Printed
Book is too small a factor in the life of the Canadian people.
There are many communities, of no higher natural intelligence
and no sounder average education than our own, in which books
exert a more active and widespread influence, and impart a
broader culture, than they do in Canada.

Into the profounder reasons for this insufficient valuation
of the Printed Book we need not enter. They are associated
with the youth of the country, its preoccupation with material
problems, its astoundingly rapid development of wealth. They
are remedying themselves with the passing of time.

But there are a number of contributory causes for our lack
of Bookishness. which can and must be combatted before the
Book can be raised to its proper place in Canadian life and Cana-
dian esteem: and it will be the business of the Canadian Book-
man to examine into these causes and to do all in its power to
aid in combatting them.

Foremost among them is the extraordinary competition to
which the Book has lately been subjected by other methods of
appealing to the human mind or senses and of occupying the
human attention.

The Book is a very ancient invention and has not. except in
respect of cheapness of production, been much improved in the
last few generations. But three very recent inventions, two in
the realm of music and one in the realm of pictorial representa-
tion, have supplied it with new and powerful competitors. The
player-piano, the phonograph and the moving picture are keen
rivals of the Book through the demands which they make upon
the time of the public.

The important feature of this rivalry is its intense agres-
siveness. It employs all the resources of a high-pressure sales-
manship campaign of the most modern type. Incredible sums of
money have been and are being spent to popularize these three

January, 1919. CANADIAN BOO KM Ah

mechanical contrivances throughoul the civilized world. The
taste for books is Left, like the wild mustard seed, to propagate
itself as and where it will, while the taste for "movies" and "re

cords" is assiduously cultivated by thousands of experl publi-
cists with tools costing millons of dollars.

We have no protest to voice againsl these invent ions or
against their campaign of popularization. All three of them
have distinct cultural value and a great capacity for affording
pleasure. Within proper limits, in due proportions, all three are
good thing's for the human race. It is only when they begin to
drive out other good things that there begins to he need, not for
protest, but for counter measures. It is only when they seem
likely to leave no room for the Book in the homes and hearts of
many Canadians, that the true friend of the Book must bestir
himself and seek to defend the Book's proper territory. That
time, in Canada, seems to us to have come.

The Book is a singularly composite product. To place the
completed article in the hands of the consumer requires the
services of the author, for the making of it; the publisher, for
the physical production of it; the bookseller and the Library, for
the distribution of it. Within the world of books, the interests
of all these differing classes are diverse and, in some respects,
conflicting. When it is a question of defending the Book itself
against its rivals, of advancing it in the affection and esteem of
the public, their interests are indistinguishably one.

It is these common interests, the interests of the Book itself,
which the Canadian Bookman is designed and pledged to
serve.

The value of technical and specialist periodicals is too well
recognized at this date to need explanation here. They perform
many functions, not the least of which consists in keeping the
common interests of a trade, a profession, a social class or a
group of whatever kind, constantly before the members and
the community at large; in reconciling the minor differences be-
tween members of the group; and in bringing the best intelli-
gence of the group to bear uoon the improvement of the erronn's
work and position. The book business in Canada (including in
that term everybody from the author to the reader, in virtue of
their supreme community of interest) has suffered seriously in
the nast from the lack of such an organ. The Canadian* Bookman
is intended to supply it.

Our desire is. bv iust and informed criticism, by constant
voicing of the claims of literature, by maintaining a forum for
the discussion of all bookish matters, by bringing the producers
and consumers of the Book into a move sympathetic and under-
standing relation, to promote Bookislmess in Canada, to cause
two books to be read whew one wns skimmed before (and those
two to be better books and more Canadian books than was the
one), and so to foster Canadian authorshin, Canadian publish-
ing, and Canadian reading In so domg, we do not doubt to be
serving in the making and strengthening of a Canadian nation.

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

January, l'Jl'J.

The Need of More Bookishness

in Canada

A SYMPOSIUM

Contributed by twelve of the Leaders of Canadian Business,
Education, Religion, Government, Literature
and Public Life

..,....•..•..•"•..••••■••■■•■

Books and the Intense Life

By E. W. Beatty, K.C., President
of the Canadian Pacific Railway

■|^N|^M"l^<t -#-»..#"•.*•«•«•*

r N the days of Methusaleh, the chief end of
1 mail was to live a long life. To-day it is
not the length, but the intensity of the life that
counts, the wise man crowding all he can into
every minute. There are different ways of in-
creasing intensity of life — for instance, the
way of the "mixer" who from his social ac-
quaintances picks up information and experi-
ence, much of which may be of practical use to
him, and all of which makes him a more inter-
esting human being. His life has become fuller
through his conversation. The reader of good
books might be called an ••intellectual mixer"
who converses through the printed page with
minds often greater than his own. If he reads
wisely and assimilates what he reads, his intel-
lectual life is so much more intense, and pro-
vided that he does not become merely bookish,
so much better a citizen he becomes.

The greatest mistake a business man can
make is to confine his interest only to his of-
fice. He loses perspective and thinks of the
world as revolving round his business, although
that in reality is but a speck in the universe.
Instead of being, as he fancies, "ou the job," he
lives in a mentally isolated village off the track
and out of touch with the intellectual traffic
of the world, which uses the book as its chief
means of communication.

If the policy of the Canadian Bookman is to
act as a guide to current literature, particular-
ly such literature as has a bearing upon Can-
adian life and good citizenship, it should fill
a long felt want in our periodical publications.
And if the Canadian Bookman should undertake

as part of its programme a propaganda to es-
tablish libraries, however small, in every com-
munity in Canada, that alone would justify its
existence. In these days of cheap reprints of
standard authors, it is astonishing how many
worth-while books can be purchased for a hun-
dred or even fifty dollars. If the Canadian
Bookman were to publish a list of recommended
books for the nucleus of a library in a small
Canadian community, together with practical
suggestions as to how funds should be raised,
how the library should be managed and how
reading circles are best run, it would give im-
petus to a movement which would be of im-
mense value to Canadian citizenship. Excellent
work is done no doubt in small communities by
the existing travelling libraries, but the travel-
ling library has too much of a transient char-
acter, and no Canadian community, however
small, should rest content till it has a collection
of good books which it can call its own.

_»..#. .«..#.. •..«.. •-••...

The Appetite for Books

By Sir William Peterson, K.C.M.G.,
Principal of McGill Unieersity

•..»..«««..«..i

■••-.•..•"•.-••.•..•..•"••••"•..•..•..•..•«i

To the Editor :

I AM quite disposed to agree with what you
propose to say in the first issue of the .new
Canadian Bookman — a periodical to which we
must wish all possible success. There are a good
many people who, to use your own words, "read
too few books, and those few not well selected,
own far too few books (here I am sure you will
have the booksellers with you!) and attach too
little importance to books generally."

Of course, there is always the other side.

January. L919.

r \\ I/)/ | \ r.ooh 1/ LA

"Bookishness," unrelieved and unadorned, is
nut an enviable quality. I have seen manj read
crs in the British Museum, Eor instance, whose
external appearance proclaimed thai they were
unduly "bookish." So far as it implies a want
of interest in things practical, the epithet is
not a complimentary our, anil general!] speak-
ing it is not so intended. It is like the other
Word "academic," which is always meant as a
reproach. I have even known many professors
who would not care to he called either "book-
ish" or "academic" They would not want to
have it thought that they are blind to the world
of men and things outside of hooks. But the
fact that reading is sometimes overdone should
not be used to cover a deficiency in literary
and intellectual interest. Some people do not
read enough. Look over the hooks in any house,
and you will soon have an approximate estimate
of the owner's tastes and sympathies. "By their
books ye shall know them!" Some are quite
frank about it. They do not believe in books
overmuch: they are men of affairs. And then
is always the housekeeper, to whom "a hie' booK
is a big nuisance ! "

I must not speak disrespectfully of journal-
ism. A great deal of the best literature was pro-
duced originally in newspaper form. But there
are a good many people who seem to read no-
thing but newspapers. And when you sec a
housefather going home in the end of the week
with his pockets bulging out with Sunday edi-
tions, you may be sure he will read nothing else
when he is done with them. He will want the
rest of the week to recover from his orgy ! We
have all been faithful students of the daily pa-
per for the last four years, and the newspaper
proprietors, at least, have no right to complain.
But when the war is over, we shall have to "go
back to our muttons!" We shall have to find
a substitute for the great drama which has
been unfolded before our eyes from day to day
in the newspaper press. We shall have to con-
tent ourselves with the ordinary epic of life.

It is here, I think, that your pica will come
in for more and better reading. I don't want
to speak as if I believed that people should al-
ways have in hand a great classic, or an epoch-
making book of any kind, past or present. The
man who would make a boast of such a habit
might fairly be suspected of intellectual insin-
cerity. But with the excellent reprints that are
now so easily obtainable, there is very little ex-
cuse for not having some degree of touch with
what is best in literature. A man never knows
till he tries how much he can do in this way to
extend the range of his interests and to widen
his intellectual horizon. I know a Travelling
Library Department where volumes of biog-

raphy, adventure, sciei and the like are

spread 111 generous profusion before the eye, and

are being eagerlj looked for by a large and
ever-growing constituency throughout the l>"

minion. There is something there to suit every

taste, including a large assortment of fiction
and other recreative literature. With such

stores to draw upon, it would be simply in
sible Eor any one not to read.

What is the use of teaching children the me-
chanical art of reading, if we fail to instil in
their minds a genuine appetite for good sound
books, and if we neglect as is so often the ease
where the opportunity of ownership is lacking
— to sec that the appetite has something to feed
on? The libraries are always with us the
shrines where, as Bacon finely said, "all the re-
lies of the ancient saints, full of true virtues,
are preserved and reposed." When Mr. Bal-
four was in .Montreal in the summer of 1917, I
reminded him that it was thirty years, almost
to a day, since I had sat beside him on the plat
form from which he delivered his St. Andrews
Rectorial address on "The Pleasures of Head
ing." In one way or another we can all have
access to books. And those of us who under-
stand the value' of daily reading will always
have on hand some good sound book, by way of
supplement to the daily newspaper. For one
thing, the type and format will usually be found
to be much more attractive. And there will be
in addition the opportunity of improving our
taste, of gaining a further interest in literature,
and of acquiring at the same time a standard of
discrimination between good and bad. Some of
use may possess too many books; they are apt
to be an encumbrance in an otherwise well-regu-
lated household. Others have too few: for them
the sense of ownership is still a joy in prospect.

.— ..«..t..i..»..«i.»..i « ■ i • '•"

I The Need for Background !

! By the Rt. Rev. Edward J. Bidwell,

i Bishop of Ontario I

■■«..» .« '■■■»■.■"»-•-«•■■■■■■'»"• • ■'.»..«■■»"« ••■•■«■ ».■■■.». » »'

Children of men! not that your age excel

In pride of life the ages of your sires,

But that ye think clear, feel clear, bear fruit

well.
The Friend of man desires. — Mat thru- Arnold.

BEFORE [ was called to more purely cleri-
cal work some ten years ago, I had been
a schoolmaster for upwards of twenty years,
first in England and afterwards in Canada.
The schools in which I worked in both countries

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

January, 1910.

were mainly boarding schools of a good class,
the pupils of which came from well-to-do and
often wealthy homes. I have frequently been
asked how in my opinion Canadian boys of this
type compare with English boys. It is an in
teresting question, but this is not the place to
attempt a full answer. I will merely note one
marked difference between the two, which is
germane to the subject in hand. Speaking gen-
erally, the English boy who attended the class
of school of which I was the Head would come
from a home in which there was in greater or
less degree some atmosphere of culture (in the
true, not the German sense), or where, at any
rate, books and "book talk"- were common.
.Most of them had more or less acquired the
reading habit, and had some familiarity, even
if slight, with good literature. The result was
that one had some sort of ;i background to rely
upon in one's teaching of subjects belonging
to the literary side of education. Also, that de-
partment seemed often to attract the brightest
minds among my pupils.

In Canada, I found conditions very differ-
ent. There were, of course, marked exceptions
but in the majority of cases there was a conspic-
uous absence among the boys of any trace of
that bent towards and taste for literary sub-
jects which a congenial home atmosphere pro-
duces. They clearly had not lived amongst
books. Allusions to even the widest-known fig-
ures in such classics as Scott, Dickens, or Thack-
eray were Greek to them. Their reading, if
they read at all, was apt to be confined to the
lightest kind of ephemeral magazine. The so-
ealled "practical" subjects, such as mathema-
tics and science, were the most popular. These
boys were, as a rule, wonderfully clever with
their hands. They knew all about guns, en-
gines, sailing-boats, canoes, and so forth. But
for the majority, of course allowing for ex-
ceptions, the great field of literature had no
attractions.

As I grew more familiar with Canadian con-
ditions, I was able to account for this deficiency.
In a country like ours, where there is such an
insistent call for every sort of energy to deal
with its vast and undeveloped resources, the
whole atmosphere tends to produce the kind of
mind which seeks its satisfaction in a career
which is, to use the ordinary phrase, a practi-
cal one. I do not think that the question of
making money has much to do with this ten-
dency. I have known boys who could have at-
tained distinction at a University prefer to en-
ter the Royal Naval College, or the Royal Mili-
tary College, because they wished to get at
something "practical" with as little delay as
possible. In the same way with those who chose

business careers. It was the idea of handling
big things which attracted them. It became clear
that this was the atmosphere they had breath-
ed in their homes, and found surrounding them
everywhere. In such an atmosphere, books be-
come merely the means of acquiring the neces^
sary technical knowledge. The cult of litera-
ture as in some measure at any rate an end in
itself could not possibly spring from such soil.
That a love of books and reading, an appre-
ciation of good literature of every kind, should
be grafted on to this wonderful practical abil-
ity is much to be wished. The solely practical
life for one thing is apt to become exceedingly
sterile, especially when age diminishes activi-
ties. And I believe it to be generally true that
the man with the widest interests, which would
certainly include literary interests, is in tin-
long run more useful to the community than
the one idea'd expert. Moreover, it is to this
lack that we owe much of the crude judgments
which disfigure our political and social think-
ing. It is natural for a country like Canada to
look to the future. But it is a fatal mistake
to suppose that the wisdom of the past can be
ignored. Canadian life would be both fuller and
richer if our people read more and 'bought
more. My present position involves ■'. gr-a.t
deal of travelling. I converse with all sorts
and conditions of men. Only once have I en-
joyed a conversation about books, and that was
with a young mail-clerk, with whom I discussed
the relative merits of Tennyson and Browning.
I have had numbers of most interesting talks,
tut always about ••practical" subjects. [ am
speaking, of course, of casual crnversations with
strangers, not of journeys with friends.

Any effort to make of us a nation that places
a higher value upon books and all that they
stand for deserves unqualified support. Mat-
Inew Arnold's lines have to us a particular
message. We are rather inclined to be obsessed
with the idea of making our age excel "in pride
of life," of exploiting our tremendous material
resources, of progressing by leaps and bound*
in our knowledge and mastery of the great
forces of nature. So that we are apt to forget
that man does not live by bread alone. But tins
is a mistake for which, if we persist in it, we are
likely to have to pay dearly in the long run.
Especially now, with all the difficult problems
that face us, do we need to "think clear, feel
clear, bear fruit well." A great step towards
this consummation would be a complete change
of heart in the current ideas of the value of
books, and the creation of an atmosphere favour-
able to the appreciation of true literature in our
Canadian homes. That is the purpose with
which the Canadian Bookman is launched.

imiiirv

ldio.

( i \ i/'/ i \ BOOKM i \

■ * . ■ .

j The Reading Public in
Canada

By Sir Robert A. Falconer, K.C.M.G.,
President of the University of Toront

ONE of tin' greatest pleasures that a reader
has in visiting London or Edinburgh is
to stray into a book-shop and browse among
the latest books. To read reviews of books in
the literary columns of papers and magazines
is one thing:; to pick up the book, glance
through the table of contents and turn over
the pages is something quite different. K •-
views do make one buy books, but for one that
is bought through a review, three will be bought
by the reader who casually picks from the coun-
ter well printed volumes or a new publication
of which he has not heard. A book-loving peo-
ple, a city that has readers, will boast of its
good book-shops. Is it the shops that make the
readers, or the readers who make the shops? I
fancy that it is the readers who make the shops.
If so, the reason that we have so few good book-
shops in Canadian cities is that we have so few
readers who are interested in books. As a Can-
adian, I regret to own that we are far behind
the Old Land in this respect. Possibly on the
average our cities have as many good readers as
those of the United States, but we have a long
way to go before we get within sight of London
or Edinburgh. Of course, by readers, I do not
mean newspaper readers.

We have some very creditable journals, and
papers are read widely and intelligently. On
the whole, the readers exercise independent
judgment, I should imagine, and are not bound
to tiie editorial opinions over-slavishly. Our
people who read these papers are not more
provincial than people of the same class in the
Old Country; they are just as able to exercise
robust common-sense, and they do so. But it
is very doubtful whether they appreciate the
style and logical development of an editorial as
the educated Englishman does, though they will
take the substance out of it quite as quickly.
Now the genuine book-lover does enjoy style.
Half of his pleasure comes from the way in
which the idea is expressed ; he enjoys the art
that prevents simple things from becoming the
obvious, that finds words that are not worn like
fingered current coin, that fits the thought with
the exact expression, that completes and rounds
out in a sentence or paragraph one idea before
confusing it with another.

One who enjoys the literary art in this sense
will always be a reader, and as he grows older

he will appreciate the truth of the words which
are inscribed on the Toronto Public Library,
"Non referi quam multos sed quatn botws half eat
libros." The young man is inipatienl to read
the bunks thai the world is talking about; the

Older man is content to sit of an evening with

his favourite writer brooding over ; that

are familiar. II.- dues nut wary of fine art ami
sententious or shrewd observations. A combin-
ation of human wisdom with chaste ami ad.
quale winds brings never failing pleasure.

Hut this leads me t.. remark further that the

good reader has not n ssarily a voracious ap

petite he is critical, Selective, makes his own
choice, and enjoys himself in doing so. He is
not eager to find from the shopman what the
best seller of the past month has been, nor does
he contribute very largely to make the fortune
of the popular novelist or witty essayist. I
fancy, however, that a reader's taste may be
judged in a measure at least by his liking for
an essay, for its pith and essence lie in its
treatment of a well chosen theme within a mod-
est compass. An effective essay must exhibit
literary skill.

But a good reader also finds pleasure on occa-
sion at least by wandering through the ampler
spaces of history or fields of thought set out
in a series of volumes, or in good biography.
There are times when one finds it a labour to
thread one's way through the narrow and well
trimmed hedges of succinct and closely-com-
pacted argument as in a small plot where a
clever gardener has used every inch of space.
Then one turns to the leisurely writer who is
not afraid to cany one off into some comfort-
able digression, and when he has quietly ex-
plored it will bring one back again in his own
good time to the main highway of his discourse.

Such a reader wishes to own the book he en-
joys and he also delights in a good, piece of
workmanship — well printed, well bound, and
well illustrated. In the matter of book-making
we Canadians have still a long way to go. "We
have to learn much in the art of printing, and
even more in the art and practice of binding.
We have not yet the traditions of a great book-
making centre such as Edinburgh or Boston,
nor have we yet had the generations of work-
men who have handed on the technique from
age to age, and who know how to use their in-
struments with such precision that they pass
the boundary that separates art from mere
utility. This lack is also due in measure to the
fact that we have in Canada few people who
buy a fine book for the book's sake. If more
of our people loved books well enough to spend
money upon handsome or even well printed
volumes, we should before long have publishers

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

January, 1910.

who would undertake to produce them, and
skilled workmen who would spend pains upon
then) and take pleasure in their finished ar-
tistry.

But fortunately the genuine reader is not de-
pendent upon an expensive edition to satisfy
his taste. No one can get his pleasure more
cheaply than the reader in these days of series
for the average man which are within the reach
of all. Nor are these cheap editions carelessly
produced for the most part. Their large circu-
lation makes it possible to print them well and
to hind them in convenient and often artistic
form. And in peace time the cost of carriage
and the customs duty are so small that these
good books can be placed at a low price even in
the Canadian village. It is not therefore for
lack of books, beautiful and cheap though for
the most part imported, that we have not a large
reading public in Canada. It is because we
have not developed a sufficient taste for litera-
ture. My experience leads me to believe that
there are more women than men in Canada who
are good readers. Possibly they have more time,
though that is doubtful when household duties
are so manifold and constant; I rather think
that women make more time, and that men
spend the hours on politics or in clubs; where-
by men learn it is true average human nature
in a direct fashion within the narrow range of
their own home town, but they miss the wider
experience of humanity which is preserved in
literature, history, philosophic speculation and
idealism ; and therefore, while effective for the
many things that can be settled by the judg-
ment of the man-on-the-street, they are not able
to form as well balanced decisions on human af-
fairs and policies which are determined by ideas
that find only occasional embodiment in the
limited circle in which they move.

i . .»..•..•.-•--•■. •-■•-»--•••<

#..«..#..»..»..«..»..♦..#..#

j Good Books the Bulwark
of Democracy

By the Very Rev. E. P. D. Llwyd, D.D.,
Dean of Halifax

THE appearance of a magazine like the
Canadian Bookman is a happy omen.
Such a publication may serve a double func-
tion— to educate opinion with reference to the
value of literature in general ; and to guide the
Canadian mind to a wise selection from among
the myriad publications which invite attention.
Observation seems to point to the conclusion
that the reading public among US is only a tiny

fraction of our total. Democracy rests upon
enlightened intelligence, and the food of intel-
ligence is information. Canada belongs in the
list of democratic nations: it is clear, therefore,
that the lamp of knowledge must be kept ever
burning in our midst, or one of the necessary
safeguards of national life will be wanting.

Education has a two-fold aspect: there is the
education which society in a manner imposes
upon its members, and there is the education
which a man gives himself. Perhaps the more
important of these is the latter, for it is through
the convictions thus arrived at that the indi-
vidual citizen is able to influence the convic-
tions of the whole. The importance of opinion
becomes more clear as social development ad-
vances. No instructed contribution to the form-
ing of that collective judgment is without va-
lue. Therefore no citizen can afford to be
uninformed with reference to the movement of
life around him; and it follows by inevitable
logic that he must be a reader. The product of
his own brain may be insignificant and poor,
but converse with the master minds of former
ages, or with the thoughts agitating the think-
ers of the present, will bring fertility out of
barrenness, and useful service instead of men-
tal vacancy. The average man is not expected
to share in public assemblies, yet there is a par-
liament in which all must be prepared to speak
and plead, the parliament of street, and club,
and drawing room. Here things of moment are
propounded, and a basis is sometimes arrived
at for decision. This implies education, that
in the clash of striving conceptions, the particu-
lar thought each man alone can give may not
be lost.

Moreover, the education of one's self by read-
ing is indispensable to the living of the liberal
life. Professionalism, with its twin brother,
dogmatism, are the abiding perils of a world
of specialization. The tendency of special stud-
ies is to foster a certain stiffness of mind,
where knowledge becomes mechanical and its
only channel is the rut. He talks like a pro-
fessor, men say. The corrective of all such spe-
cialism, with its Sir Oracle side-issues, is broad-
er human intercourse, of which a part is inter-
course with the best that has been thought and
said by the thinkers of the past. This seems
to have been in the mind of that earnest writer,
Matthew Arnold, as the instance of his empha-
sis upon culture — the freshening of the brain
by the steady in-pouring of a current of new
ideas.

For those whose vocation is that of public
teacher, the purchase of new books and the mas-
tery of their contents acquires peculiar import-

January, 1919

C I VADIAN BOOKM I \

ance. Freshness of mind as well as width ot
view are al stake for them. I gelecl for illus

tration the profession with which I am si

familiar. Ii is s;iiil thai mosl clergymen cease
reading after college. If this were even meas-
urably true, the knell <>1' pulpil influence would
have begun to toll. A reading laity pre-sup-
poses a reading and thinking clergy. Even the
trash mis-called popular fiction has been known
to glean a theme here and there from theologi-
cal harvest fields, and preachers have been
heard of who have found crumbs of sermon
suggestion even in the hooks resulting. I do
not, however, agree with the accusation of a
non-reading clergy, except in so far as the de-
fect may he an outcome of poverty. The p lo
vision of a more ample income by their congre-
gations would raise the intellectual product of
the pulpit one hundred per cent in a year. Nor
would this involve sensatioualism, straining af-
ter effect, or preaching over the heads of the
people.

I once heard a church member say, relative
to a contribution for the increase of his minis-
ter's salary: "What need of all this reading of
books and magazines? We want the Gospel,
and the Gospel pure!" He really meant he
wanted it cheap, and the cheap Gospel is al-
ways the dearest in the end. A cheap Gospel is
apt to be a narrow one, whereas the real Gospel
is as big and as universal as life. The scale of
salaries needs increase in all the teaching pro-
fessions in the name of a more thorough cul-
ture. When one sees the compensation ( ?) of
school teachers as announced in press advertise-
ments for the filling of vacancies, one stands
aghast in wonder how such a sum can feed and
clothe the body, let alone take care of the nour-
ishment of the mind.

Some one may instance our great public lib-
paries as havens of refuge for the man of small
income addicted to intellectual pleasures. It is
matter for thankfulness that even the impe-
cunious can find in such institutions a place in
the literary sun. But for my part I must con-
fess to a certain obsession in favour of owner-
ship. I like to feel that a book wdiich I have
learned to value is my own, and I fancy that in
this respect there is a sort of tribal likeness am-
ong students. Property rights in a book have
something of a corresponding savour to that
feeling of property in a friend which sets him
in a niche by himself above all mere casual ac-
quaintance. Since the entrance of the small
book into the market — yes, even where the cov-
eted volume is of less manageable cost — a care-
ful and selective purchaser can make a little
money go a great way. Few men exist in Can-
ada who cannot afford one good standard book

every three a ths. The reading material thus

sel frrr for use, an, i ii,.- increase in noble liter
ature upo ir shelves, I na up quite startling

al tin- end ill'. Bay, ten years.

1,1 'l"1 selection of books, such a magazini
this oughl to prove invaluable. How to choose
wisely amidsl tin- ,■,,/,,,/ librorum now Flooding

tin' literary market is the problem of the aver

age reader, It is said that the currenl output
is ahinit one hundred thousand volumes a year.

Such a fart sheds illumination upon the va-
riety of human interests, and the immense oul
reach of the modern mind into the realms of

nature, history, and experience. Hut it carries

confusion also. Literature becomes Thebes,
the city of a hundred gates, and there is bewil-
dermenl in store for whoso seeks t,, ehoose am-
ong SUCh a multitude of outlets into the fields

of thought.

Most of us have our literary preferences, in
whose formation we have followed our taste or
our experience. Or we have obeyed the guid-
ance of such experts in hook lore as Lord Ave-
bury or Lord Acton. From their superior judg-
ment may have issued appreciation on our part
of the great literature which in Milton's words
is "the previous blood of a master spirit, pre-
served unto a life beyond life." From lists al-
so like those of Everyman 's Library, we may
have learned in what other directions our feet
may turn in quest of knowledge. But the great
mass of current literature still remains an un-
charted sea. For this the magazines must be
to some extent our guide. The Spectator, the
Times Literary Supplement, the admirable re-
views of the Athenaeum and the Nation, and
now the pronouncements of their youngest sis-
ter, the Canadian Bookman — he who serves his
taste from the weekly and monthly banquet pro-
vided in these, will surely not altogether miss
the joys of the feast of literature.

. «..»..»..»■■«.■«■.«■.<. .»..#.,»..

—"♦••>■■••■•■••■••■■•'■♦■■»■'•■'•■'••'•■'•■'■' 9 • ■•■■»

Literature as a Force in
Canadian Development

By the Hon. Sir William Hearst,
K. C. M. G., Premier of Ontario.

I COULD wish nothing better for Canada
than that every home in the land had in
familiar and frequent use a collection of the
best and brightest books. We would then be
a greater people, intellectually as well as mor-
ally, and, I doubt not. happier and more pro-
sperous. Siuee it is not the good fortune of us
all to possess such a treasure. I am glad to

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

January, 1919.

know that many of us can have it in part, and
that all can have aeeess to it in one way or an-
other. Inasmuch as literature is the sum to-
tal of recorded human knowledge, it is uni-
versal in its scope, both as to time and place.
What mortal man can hope to be familiar with
a realm so vast and unbounded? At m «t,
we can only study and assimilate such books
as are of direct benefit and interest to us, and
acquire a casual acquaintance of a limited num-
ber of others. For the average busy man the
problem is to know what books are most
worthy of his time and attention. He is lucky
indeed if some kind friend will introduce him
to a good book which he can approach with
confidence and cherish as a permanent posses-
sion and companion. Someone has said that
books are our best friends for they never de-
ceive us. It is well to have as many friends
as possible, especially if they be of the kind
described. But there are books and books.
Many there are which are an estimable bless-
ing to the human race and others which we
could spare with advantage. Unfortunately it
happens usually that if a book is denounced as
thoroughly pernicious in its influence, that
fact is sufficient to attract hosts of curious and
thoughtless readers. Therefoie, in the long
run it pays to ignore such undesirable litera-
ture rather than to denounce and thereby ad-
vertise it. So much there is in our libraries
and bookstores that is good and wholesome
that, in spite of many glaring exceptions, books
are among the best influences in the world to-
day. I take it that the province of the liter-
ary critic is first and last to help us in our
ehoice of books. Such a guide is like an explor-
er who locates valuable deposits, sometimes in
the most unexpected places, and points them
out to us. If the critic is given either to ful-
some flattery or to censorious fault-finding,
he fails in his mission. It is his duty to be
truthful and honest without allowing himself
to be prejudiced or biased. Above all, I think
it is the duty of the book-wise to educate the
popular taste to a due appreciation of what
is highest ami best. In a country like Canada,
which is still undeveloped in many respects,
a greater appreciation of good books will tend
t _> increase the market for them as well as the
talent to produce them. Literature must, and
will, be an essential part of our progress and
development as a nation. All honour to what
Canadians have done and are doing at home
and abroad, but their efforts will not bring the
results they ought if they are not stepping-
-.t o ties to greater things in the future. We are
a young, vigorous, ami progressive country,
and I look to see the development of our liter-

ature not only keep step, but lead our advance
in every branch of national effort.

»..».. «..*.. s..s..«..*.. «..».. »..«. ... .«..•..«..». ....,..#

j Books Should Not Be
1 aken Neat

By William Lawson Grant, M. A.,
Principal of Upper Canada College

WRITING in 1839, Arnold of Rugby lament-
ed the decay of the habit of solid reading,
and ascribed it to "the great number of excit-
ing books of amusement, like 'Pickwick' and
'Nickleby. ' " What would he have said of
to-day, when Dickens has been succeeded by
the scrappy magazine and the still scrappier
movie?

The young Canadian has few intellectual in-
terests. Our girls are healthy and clean, but
their infinite gibble-gabble can only come from
minds intellectually unawakened. Our boys
are naturally keen and intelligent. They have
attained special distinction in the most tech-
nical and scientific branch of the fighting
forces, the air-service. But their interest in
ideas is small. Indeed, they rather pride them-
selves as practical men on a lack of interest
in abstractions. "He is not strong on ab-
stract ideas," was the praise recently given by
a great Canadian newspaper to a great Can-
adian business man.

Of course, reading has its dangers. Nowhere
was reading so rife as in Germany. Unfor-
tunately, that country tended to take its books
and its ideas neat, as some people do their
brandy, and with results even more disastrous.
Reading, as Bacon said long ago, must be
"perfected by experience," "for natural abili-
ties are like natural plants, that need pruning
by study ; and studies themselves do give forth
directions too much at large, except they be
bounded in by experience." But Canadians
at present need the study much more than the
experience, and are much more apt to wander
into the land of Philistia than into the wilder-
ness of Pedantry.

Our schools, in the attempt to teach English
Literature thoroughly and scientifically, have
divorced reading from reality. The unhappy
pupil is taught not to read shakespeare, but
to "do" him, with the result that poor Shakes-
peare gets so over-done as to be quite unpalat-
able; not to read Coleridge, but to study "The
Ancient Mariner," with a view to discover-
ing whether "I wist" is a corruption of
ge-wiss, or only a preterite of uritan, and such

January, 1919.

CANADIA \ BOOR '/ 1 \

other pedantic lore. In the natural recoil from
English so taught, our hoys and girls fly to
Gene Stratton Porter, and satiate their souls
with slush.

Yt't there is no Deed Eor teacher or publicist
to be discouraged. One must remember thai the
solid reading of which Arnold spoke was done
by a small and select class. If there has been in
that class any Lowering of standard, there has
been in the other classes an enormous levelling
up. The figures published by our great public-
libraries show how much reading is done, and
how solid much of it is. The success of such
series as Everyman's Library tells the same tale.
Making every necessary reservation, there is
evidently in Canada a large reading public
ready to have their standards raised by just
such a publication as the Canadian Bookman:
ready to be taught that, as John Milton said, "A
good book is the precious life-blood of a master-
spirit, embalmed and treasured up on purpose
to a life bevond life."

Cheap Magazines, Crime
and Insanity

By the Hon. Thomas William McGarry,
Provincial Treasurer of Ontario

.•'■'.•■♦.» ■#■■■>■•*•* ■»»—»« 1 1 1 1 1

n>..t.i«.i»n« » i>

WE Canadians, it must be acknowledged,
are not a "bookish'* people. We even
lay no claim to the title as book-collectors,
book-lovers, or book-readers. Not that there
are not some among us who like to see and
possess good and beautifully bound "books,
and have carried their hobby so far as to make
a large collection of them, and there are others
who have gathered together a few books, as
they have made friends, well-loved and inti-
mate.

If we were to judge by the number of daily
papers sold in our country, we should feel
inclined to deny the charge that we were not
a reading people. In fact, we know that much
of our time is consumed in reading newspaper
gossip, which time, if spent on good books, in
a few years would bring about amazing results
towards increasing the number of well-inform-
ed people. Consider the appalling amount of
written matter that is needed to feed the daily
press. It is impossible, considering the present
state of education, that there should be enough
cultured persons, male and female together, to
supply the insatiable monster.

Again, if we were to judge by the class of
literature displayed on news-stands, heaps of

magazines of all colors and designs, and glance
over the contents, and try to judge the effeel
such reading matter would have on our peo-
ple, who in their idle and receptive hours con-
sume such emotional ami lurid stuff as the ma-
j Tii) of magazines contain well, one should

■i"' wonder at the increase of crime and insan-
ity in our midst. It is a great misfortune to
have a vulgar mind, ami even the desultory

reading of some of the magazines, claimed to be
"best sellers," cannot hdp bul tend to blunt
our finer feelings, and when people read no-
thing but this so called literature, what can
one expect bul vulgarity and coarseness? "We
must, of course, except the two extremes, those
who have naturally such sound and excellent
taste that nothing readable will corrupt it,
and those so depraved that they will not ap-
preciate the higher things even when thrust
upon them.

Education is almost universal, but if a man
knows how to read, and not what to read, his
case is more desperate so far as culture is con-
cerned, than that of him who does not read at
all. A man may be cultured and have the know-
ledge of but a few books, and so too, one
may be an omnivorous reader and have a very
vulgar mind. What I should like to see is
more time given to the study of literature in
our schools, commencing in the early grades,
and continuing through the high school. Our
boys and girls can early be taught to love the
good books, and thus their taste for the best
in literature would be formed, and in the years
to come the list of Canadian fictional wri-
ters and poets, historians and scientists will
be vastly increased, and they will make their
mark throughout the English-speaking world.
Our achievements in the great war have been
a tremendous advertisement for Canada and
everything Canadian. All the world will now
want to know something about this busy young
nation, that has not merely taken a place am-
ong the greatest military nations, but has ac-
tually become the spearhead of the greatest of
them. It cannot be otherwise than that Can-
ada will fill a great place in the eyes of the
world during the years that are next to come,
and it is well that our literature should have
worthy representatives. Canadian produc-
tions must stand on their own merits; they
have to compete as literature against the pro-
ductions of Britain, the other British dominions
and the United States, and if they cannot stand
on their own merits, they will fall. On the
other hand, if they are worthy to endure, it
will not be because they are Canadian, but be-
cause they have insight, vigour, originality and
scholarship.

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

January, 1919.

The Shelf of Third Rate
Novels : A Current Plague j

By E. F. Scott, D. D., Professor of New

Testament Literature, Queen's

University

A MAGAZINE which aims at promoting a
wider interest in books ought to re-
ceive a welcome from all who are concerned for
the true progress of Canada. There are many
book-lovers in this country, and they are often
to be found in unexpected places; but it must
be admitted that we are not, in the mass, a
reading people. The book-store, even in our
larger towns, has a struggle to survive, and
can only do so by displaying toys and tobacco
and Christmas gifts along with its modest col-
lection of volumes. In numberless houses which
are perfect in all matters of plumbing and up-
holstery you will find only a shelf or two of
third-rate novels to bear witness that the
human mind has achieved something in other
directions. There is perhaps no country with
anything like the same pretensions to a higher
civilization in which books play such a minor
part in the general life. For this condition
of things there are no doubt many causes, but
one of them may be worth mentioning, because
it could easily be remedied. Most of our books
have necessarily to be imported and the Gov-
ernment does its best to exclude them by a
duty which makes their price prohibitive. What
is the purpose of this most stupid and vexa-
tious of all taxes, which at most can add only
a few thousand dollars to the revenue, at the
cost of starving the intellectual life of the coun-
try? Home industries ought to be encouraged;
but does the Government seriously expect to
stimulate native genius by this sheltering of
its market from the competition of English
and French writers? (German books are ad-
mitted free!) There can be no question that
if books were made cheaper in Canada they
would be more generally bought and read. In
the Canadian Bookman the down-trodden class
of book-buyers has at last found an advocate.
Is it too much to hope that you may be able
to effect something in this matter for our de-
liverance?

One often hears it argued that the neglect
of books, however it may be explained, is na-
tural in a new country, and is creditable to us
rather than otherwise. Our people, we are
told, are fully occupied with their great prac-
tical task of developing this vast territory.
By-and-by they will gain leisure for art and

literature and all the rest, but for the present
they have more urgent work on hand. But it
is hard to see how this excuse will serve for
Canada as we know it. in this twentieth cen-
tury. Is it not time that the ordinary well-to-
do Canadian should cease posing as a grim
pioneer, engaged in a constant battle with the
wilderness? His battle — waged for the most
part in a comfortable city office — is not really
so exhausting as to use up all his energies.
He could relax occasionally for a little quiet
reading and thinking if he wanted to. For
that part, the very fact that this is a new coun-
try makes it the more necessary that we should
cultivate the love of books. In older coun-
tries men have the past around them in all
their daily life, and are kept in touch, alufosi
without knowing it, with the great traditions
of the race. Here we must preserve our hold
of them through the medium of books, or else
lose them altogether.

It would not be difficult to show tha* if our
people had more of the habit of reading they
would be all the better fitted for those orae-
tical tasks to which they have specially devot-
ed themselves. Nobody can deny the sagacity
and keenness of mind of the average Canadian,
but his limitations are also apparent. His
judgments, however intelligent, are apt to be
hard and narrow. He often misses the real
drift even of a practical question for want of
a little sympathy and imagination. With all
his shrewdness he is prone to a curious sim-
plicity, which takes men at their own valua-
tion, and allows an open door to mediocrities
and charlatans. These are precisely the de-
fects which are cured by reading, and cannot
very well be cured in any other way. The mind
cultivated by books may not be any stronger
than nature made it, but at any rate it becomes
broader, more supple, more sure in its criti-
cism of men and things. It is safe to say that
if our people had only read more, they wou'd
have held back from various wild schemes
which they have had cause to regret. They
would have acted on something else than a
hand-to-mouth policy on one matter and an-
other that vitally concerned their well-being.
In their search for guides and counsellors they

would never have fixed on the Hon. Mr.

hut this is touching on delicate ground.

Books are not everything, and with the
warning of Germany before us we do not wish
to build the future of Canada on a purely
bookish foundation. But when all is said, the
world's best wisdom and its loftiest thoughts
and imaginations are stored up in books, and
if we neglect them we make ourselves infinite-
ly poorer. Canada has wakened of late years

January, L919.

CANADIAN lit)t>l\ 1/ l \

l.:

to a knowledge of its wonderful material
wealth, and is seeking by everj means to make
ii more fully available. Bui as one of the
British nations we possess a treasure still more
wonderful, in the greatesl literature thai the
world has known. Let us make better use of
this part, of our inheritance.

1 ■ ■ ■ ■ inaii

j The Tragedy of Mental
Blindness

By Samuel Henry Hooke, M.A., B.D.,
Assoc. Professor of Oriental Literature
Victoria College, Toronto

■•••••••••»•••

Nothing save mental blindness can be sin;
All seeing saves, all hearing, all delight.

THE mad Shepherd," Mr. Jacks' most
delightful creat'on, speaks of a condi-
tion which he describes as being "stuck in
one's skin.'' Books are not necessarily a
remedy for it. Merely bookish people indeed
acquire a solid calf-skin binding which is even
harder to break through than the integument
they were born in. But the really great things
in literature have only come from people who
had learnt how to escape from their skin.
Hence great literature may be one way of es-
cape. It may serve as the magic looking
glass for those who will break through it into
the real world of truth and beauty behind it.
The condition which Bernard Shaw has so long
waged his brilliant warfare with, his bugbear
of Philistinism, is just the state in which so
many of us spend our lives without being
aware that anything is wrong with us. It is a
state, in Masefield's phrase, of "mental blind-
ness," of being "stuck in one's skin." Like
Peter Bell, of famous memory, we find in the
primrose by the river's brim a simple prim-
rose, and we thank God that we are as other
men are.

In his poem 'The Wanderer," Masefield
has a vivid passage describing a winter morn-
ing's walk, "breasting up the fells." He says:

And soon men looked upon a glittering earth.

Intensely sparkling like a world new-born;
Only to look was spiritual birth,

So bright the raindrops ran along the thorn.

So bright they were, that one could almost

pass
Beyond their twinkling to the source, and

know
The glory pushing in the blade of grass,

Thai hidden soul which makes the Flowers
ow.

tl |- thai "spiritual birth," the sudden Hash
"'' seeing thai saves, thai delivers from the
mental blindness thai is the real sin againsl
the Holy Ghost.

Canada has alreadj shown thai -I an

bring seers to the birth. No one not hopelessly
stuck in his skin could look al Tom Thorn
son's pictures of the Canadian North with-
out some sense Of awe. There was a man who

had seen the realitj behind the veils, had seen

God face to lace and died of it.

But, rightlj used, the remedy thai lies near-
est to us is greal literature. A young and

virile country, es] ially in this age of effi

ciency and industrialism, is in danger of ma-
terialism, which is jusl another name for be-
ing stuck in one's sk'n. It is not easy to create
standards of value that cannot be measured in
terms of the dollar. But the right use of the
best books is one of the most potent forces to-
wards the creation of a spirit which can make
a nation truly gnat in the best sense.„ It was
Virgil's spirit that led Dante to the final
sublime vision of the power "that moves the
sun in heaven and all the stars." One who
has been brought, by consorting with the seers
who have written down their visions, to see
something of the beauty that is truth, can say
with the hero of the old fable of Apuleius, "I
have eaten rose leaves, I am no longer an ass."

^-^"•"•"■'■•■■•■■•■■•■■•■■•'■•"•■^■■•■■•■■•■■■II — . ■■■»■■»■■■! ■ « *»»■■■•« « ■ 9

j Literature the Handmaid
I of Religion

| By the Rt. Rev. John Farthing, D.D.,

i Bishop of Montreal

%■■«..«. ■ ■.§.. »■■«■■». .1. ■ >■■«.« >..■..«.■♦■.«..»■. «.,»,.«..»..«-«..«..«-«..»^~«..»..«_«..«„

IT has been said that literature and life are
indissolubly bound together. The litera-
ture of a nation expresses its life. The life
of a nation is complex. Even in the in
dividual there is the ever continuing struggle
of the baser against the better self. This
struggle is bound to show itself in the litera-
ture of the nation. When the baser gains the
ascendancy, it will result in the lowering of
the whole moral stamina of the people. For
this reason I have been alarmed to notice the
multiplication of the Short Story Magazine,
which depicts the frivolous and the sensual
phases of life, and ignores, sometimes even
ridicules, the pure and noble. Minds fed at

CAXA/HAX I'.OOKUAS

January, 191 it.

such a trough are bound to be corrupted, and
we shall inevitably see the result in low ideals
and morals. This style of literature is a men-
ace to the country.

The time is most opportune to put forth a
propaganda for the creation and circulation of
the best in literature. During the war all our
leaders in Church and State, in speeches, in
books, and through the press, have been put-
ting before the people the higher and nobler
ideals of life; sacrifice and service, liberty
and righteousness, have not only been advo-
cated, but have been exemplified in thousands
of lives. Our own young men and women
have become as real heroes and heroines as any
of the nations of the past have produced. This
has awakened a new spirit of nationhood
among us, and has made these virtues a great
national possession; and the pride of posses-
sion will stimulate the desire to emulate. What
the war has won in national idealism, peace
must not destroy. What our heroes have re-
vealed in our national life, must be utilised in
the days of peace. The danger to the nation
is not over when peace is signed. We must
cling to the ideals with which we aroused and
maintained our morale, and we must continue
to strive to realise them in the life of the na-
tion, and embody them in our national tradi-
tions.

This can only be done by developing the
spiritual life through religion. The greatest
aid to religion is good literature. By good I
do not mean necessarily that which is directly
dealing with religious subjects. All that is
ennobling and pure is religious, whether it be
history or fiction.

The task before us is great. There must
first be created a love for good literature. A
literature which expresses the high ideals
which have inspired the nation during these
years of struggle will be eagerly read. This
can be the preparation for the best in other
fields of literature. The best way to create
this love for the good is to provide good lit-
erature, which will be within the comprehen-
sion of the ordinary person. The circulation
of the best from other lands is important ; but
what is more important, to my mind, is to
create a Canadian literature, which will ex-
press our national ideals. Literature must
do even more than express life, it must mould
it. Canada has clone much in this field already,
of which we can be proud. It is a good begin-
ning. We must encourage our own writers, for
as we have produced as good soldiers as any
other nation, why should we not produce as

good writers? Before literature can mould the
life of the nation it must be brought within the
reach of even the poorest of our people. We
want a cultured poor as much as a cultured
rich. To attain this we must have cheap edi-
tions of the best works ; cheap magazines
which will drive out the cheap and nasty ones
which are doing so much harm to our youth.
We must have more and better public libraries
where the poorest man can obtain, freely, the
very best books.

It is because I understand that the Cana-
dian Bookman will strive diligently to create
the love of the good, and to supply that litera-
ture, that I wish it every success in its work,
and will gladly do what I can to help it in its
great purpose.

Canadian Indifference
to Books

By Maurice Hutton, M.A., LL.D , Principal
of University College, Toronto

IF any man ought to know the deficiency of
Canadians in the matter of books and book-
reading a teacher of the classics should know
it.

Our men — as they have shown in this war —
are the equals, to say the least, of the people
of the United Kingdom in courage, enterprise,
self-reliance, versatility of mind, and general
handiness; they are deficient in their love of
books, in their interest and grasp of literature
and history; and it is in the classics more than
anywhere else that this deficiency betrays it-
self.

One might suppose a priori that our students
would be scholars as competent as those of Ox-
ford and Cambridge; handicapped, though they
be, by the comparative scarcity of a literary
home-atmosphere in this new country, doxibly
handicapped by the deficiencies of our school
system, its congested time-tables and list of
subjects, and its indifference to languages (ex-
cept English, which is generally acquired bet-
ter indirectly via the classics) yet one might ex-
pect that their more serious and business-like
attitude of mind, and their greater industry,
and Scotch grit would enable them to overtake
the easy-going cricketers of the great English
public schools ; if they do not, and they show
no signs of doing so in classics, the cause lies

January, 1919.

' i \ IDIAN BOOKMAN

in the matter of books and reading, or rather in
the lack of books and reading.

There are two or three trays in which this
may be illustrated. In Oxford and Cambridge
a student hardly expects to read bis authors in
term time; he gives term time to Lectures and
essays and athletics; he does the greater pari
of his private reading — without which lectures
are a snare and a delusion — in the long vaca
tion : the best men have private tutors then for
at least a month, but in any case they expect
to get through the texts of Plato and Aristotle,
Cicero and Tacitus. Thucydides and Herodo-
tus then.

Conditions in this country are absolutely dif-
ferent. I cannot recall any student of whom I
am positive that he had this advantage: the ma-
jority even of the best students have spent
their long vacations in other ways, and have
worked hard — however unintentionally and un-
willingly— at forgetting in the summer the nod-
ding acquaintance with the men of light and
leading of the ancient world (still men of light
and leading on all serious subjects of history and
philosophy for the serious thinkers of to-day .
which they had begun to acquire in term time.
It is partly an inevitable result of res angusta:
partly of the Canadian impatience with books :
but in either case it is fatal to scholarship and
to understanding of the subject.

The same thing is illustrated even more vivid-
ly by the comparative size of the students' lib-
rary in the two lands : no one dreams in Oxford
and Cambridge of "dying: on the college lib-
rary for the ordinary good editions of the clas-
sics : he has his own library, even if he sells it
gaily for a song when he graduates and passes
on gratis the notes with which he has enriched
his authors. But here I have seen good stu-
dents relying even for Liddell and Scott on the
library ; or content with the horrible small edi-
tion, which is an even greater crime and greater
folly.

I knew one good scholar in Oxford who did
this, and wrote out unknown words on slips of
paper and consigned the slips to his pocket, with
a view to consulting L. & S. when he happened
next to be visiting a rational friend : he did it
solely and wholly to be eccentric and for para-
dox sake, just as he also enquired one day in the
heat of summer whether his friend had enjoyed
football that afternoon. He had his reward, the
reputation of an eccentric ; he lost the good de-
gree which was otherwise his natural right, and a
better right than the dubious title of an eccen-
tric and "an intellectual": intellectuals have
no intelligence, and L. & S. are as essential to
intelligent study of the Greeks as L. S. and D.
to an intelligent use of life.

A wise man not merely demands the lai
edition nf Liddell & Scott, be wants three copies

of it for his use ;,t college, one for use at

home, one for use m ins summer cottage
Preighl charges forbid the incessant transpo
tion of this ponderous bul essential articli
baggage. I aever realised learning »

heavy," said a witty Irish cabbj t once

on one of the i asions on which I wa

over much not to duplicate but move my work
ing library.

Obviouslj the same explanation as before
count for this difference: res angusta, but also
indifference and impatience with books.

Now I know all that may be said against
indifference and impatience with books.
doubting Dr. Jowett for nothing. "I am con-
vinced as much time is waste, 1 in reading as in
anything," he once said. No doubt! but the
answer to this scepticism is, as usual, more
scepticism. Time is wasted in reading; but
time is wasted no less in business meetings and
in administration: in college councils and r
senate meetings, and in examinations and in
other forms of serving- tables. Happy those
gifted spirits who can employ these fruitless
hours in drawing caricatures (as I. once saw-
Oscar Wilde doing-, while T was stniL'L'ling- with
a Creek prose paper). Happier still those who
can employ them in composing Greek and Latin
verses. But happy in humble measure even
those who have the minor gift, which has some-
times been permitted to me. of passing those
hours in refreshing sleep.

Time is wasted everywhere and in every way:
but even desultory reading- often brings a few
words, a few lines, which go far to repay the
waste, and leave a sense of satisfaction and
literary enjoyment.

T was reading for example the other day a
very serious and somewhat pacifist journal,
when I stumbled across this phrase, inserted
only as an awful warning-, but calculated to
serve the other purpose of literary edification —
"a world without war would be one long damned
Sunday afternoon walk." The desultory read-
er sometimes entertain angels unawares: there
is a world of personal temperament, even of na-
tional character, lit up and illumined by that
audacious and happy cynicism.

I know that there are other thing-s still to be
said against the possession of books.

When I contemplate my demise, which must
necessarily be drawing nearer. T shudder for
those orphaned babes to be launched on an un-
kind world : why many of these volumes inter-
leaved and annotated illegibly from head to foot,
from side to side of the interleaving, will be the
only proof that I once filled a chair : and when

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

January, 1919.

I am gone and the Red Cross requests them for
making rags and bandages, the only proof of
me will be obscured and buried in bandages and
rags, and some successor in the chair will find
perhaps that I belonged to some solar myth,
natural to the history of the University of To-
ronto in its crude beginnings.

I see the danger and can do nothing to avert
it : my only son is a soldier with no intelligence
in such directions: my daughters are intelligent
in other directions: my wife — why every good
wife is impatient of a scholar's library, and pro-
perly: she has more reason to be jealous of
them, than of any more animated flame which
ever came between her and him, and shut her
out of a wifely paradise. "We all know in-
stinctively, even when we arc talking of states-
men, not of scholars, that Mr. Asquith, the last
of the reading statesmen of England, gives no
occasion for wifely jealousy of the kind that in-
terests reporters and interviewers of the socie-
ty journals: we are just as sure, nevertheless,
that he gives occasion for the other jealousy,
when he is happy in his library and curses cau-
cus meetings and cabinet councils, and even the
Houses of Westminster and all similar triviali-
ties.

This is a serious drawback to the acquisition
of books and library, that they come to nothing,
and are shovelled up for sixpence — if not into
a bloody ditch — yet into a useful furnace. But
again the answer to the doubt and the demurral
is further doubt. So is life itself shovelled up
and comes to nothing, the life of action, not less
than the life of thought. What is Bismarck's
ghost feeling to-day 1 He worked for a long life-
time for Germany: he succeeded beyond all
other men apparently: he set back the
hands of the clock — a feat reputed impossible
by the Toronto Globe — for well nigh seventy-
five years, and now it is all ending as we «ee
to-day. He has ruined his countrymen by his
masterful actions, even though not a single de-
tail of their madness and their fall can be traced
to him, even though he set himself against every

detail, so far as he could anticipate it. But the
spirit — though not the details — of his policy
has counted and has undone the land for which
he sacrificed everything, his good conscience
and his good nature, his common-sense, and his
intelligence. He would have been a much more
useful German, if he had eschewed national am-
bitions and specialized — like Mr. Balfour — in
theological metaphysics, or like Mr. Gladstone
— whom he so scorned — in vain imaginations
about Homer. Or, again, in humbler life — a
Canadian clears the bush and builds a shack,
and founds a home and laboiirs with his hands
till he is too tired to think or read : but the set-
tlement of the country takes another line, and
within twenty years the house is falling to
pieces, and the porcupines camp in it and the
bind-weed binds it and "action" has been
checkmated not less decisively than thought.
The net results of life cannot be measured by
such external standards: or, as Aristotle puts it,
to do nothing, that is to live the student's life
of books and thought, is not to do less, sometimes
it is to do more, than is permitted to the man of
action: for he is judged by external results and
cannot reject this standard of judgment, and the
results are often nil : the other life at least had
reality, even intensity, while it lasted : it was
autarkes, sufficient to itself, however insuffi-
cient from that social point of view, which
rides at us like a nightmare at the present mo-
ment, as though we had no individual souls
and no personal ex:stence.

I have strayed far from the Canadian stu-
dent and his impatience with books, with his-
tory, with the past : but it all comes down to
this, that he is too unlike the German and the
Frenchman and the Russian and the Italian;
too contemptuous of lofty theory and serious
reading; even more indifferent to these things
than the English student whom of Europeans he
approaches most closely : too American. He may
even be content with Walt Whitman for litera-
ture.. It is time to stop : before some condem-
nation even more severe escape my reckless pen.

January, 1919.

I ' I \ I/'/ I \ /.wh*A l/.IA

The Book Agent:

or Why Do People Buy Books.?

By STEPHEN LEACOCK

THE ancient Romans, s.. I have been ered
ibly informed, had a currenl Baying which
pan, "Cur, hominem unius libri; Beware
the man with one book." 'This has been inter-
preted bj the faulty scholarship of to-daj to
imply a warning against the superior educa-
tion nf the man who has studied only one
book, but has studied thai book well. The
meaning was really quite different. The motto

STEPHEN LEACOCK.

simply meant : Beware of the man who eomes
into your office with one book under his arm ;
in other words, watch out for the book agent."
The Roman book agent, with his thin black
toga and his muffler round his neck, was no
doubt as formidable a figure as his lineal de-
scendant of today. He came into Marcus Tul-
lius Cicero's office just as he does into yours
or mine. He walked past the didascuh and
the stylists working in the atrium as easily as

he walks pasl the stenographers in our i uter
offices. He removed his muffler with the same
deliberation. He spread ou1 a papyrus on the
desk, ami when he laid one lean finger as em-
phaticallj upon it as he lays it to-daj upon an
illustrated prospectus, and said, "I am offering
here a proposition," the same shock went
through Cicero as it dotes through you or me.
... "This." said the book agent, "is a set of Poly
u hius." "I do not want it." murmured

t licero. " We are practically giving this
away." said the agent. "T don't care."
Cicero said doggedly, "I don't
it and T won't have it. and you can't
make me take it." The agent turned
over his papyrus till he came to the
picture of a Creek chariot. Then he
to k Cicero's head in his hands and
twisted it into position. "Look." he
said sternly. Tn spite of himself
Cicero's eyes kindled with interest. "Ts
that a chariot?" he murmured. "It
is," said the agent. "It is done in
parchment by our new graphite pro-
cess. The illustrations of this work
are alone worth the price. Would
you like to see a picture of a trireme
dune in red ink?" Cicero looked and
was lost. Ten minutes later the agent
walked out of the office with a signa-
ture from Cicero promising to pay
monthly instalments for seven years,
while Cicero sat gazing fixedly at the
picture of a trireme till one of his
clerks touched him on the shoulder and
recalled him to life.

Such is. and such has been since the
days of the Roman, the art of the book
agent. He worked it then. He works
it still. Nor is there any doubt about
it that the art by which he -sells
books is a sort of hypnotism. He look- the busi-
ness man straight in the eye with one fore
finger pointed directly at the business man's
brain — or the place where it was before the
agent came into the office. — and he says in a
deep vibrating voice, "Have you read Macau-
lay's History?"

Xow the matter of Macaulay's History has
been for twenty years the vulnerable point in
the business man's intellect, and he knows it.
For twenty years he has meant to read Macau-

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

January, 1919.

lay. and at the wards, "Have you read it?" he
falls prone on his desk, his face buried in his
hands. The book agent lays the History be-
side him, signs the receipt and moves out. No
one dares to stop him. His eye is turned stern-
ly upon the lady stenographers. If they move
an eyelash he'll sell them "How to Invest Your
Savings and Make a Million." This, as they
have no savings, fascinates them always. Nor
can the doorkeeper stop him, nor the elevator
boy. If they try to, the agent will sell them
"The Life of Ulysses S. Grant." All door-
keepers, janitors and elevator boys reach out
instantly for "The Life of Ulysses S. Grant,"
and read themselve insensible with it, sitting
motionless on a little stool.

The book agent in the business office is real-
ly only a part of the larger and unexplored
phenomenon, Hypnotism in Business. I am
convinced that a large part of our business
transactions are effected by hypnotising and
being hypnotised. The bond dealer and the
real estate man are merely hypnotists pos-
sessed of an occult power. Had they been
born in India they would have passed for
saints. The book agent is but a humble repre-
sentative of the same class. Nor is it only
in the business office that the book agent is
able to work his peculiar hypnotic trick. It
operates equally well on the farms. I can
distinctly remember from my country child-
hood the spectacle of the book agent driving
with his horse and cutter, his muffler wrapped
about his long neck, and his head moving from
side to side, looking for farmers. He beck-
oned the farmer inside the house. The farmer
followed him from the barnyard like a fas-
cinated dove. The door closed upon them. Fif-
teen minutes later the agent drove away with
a five-dollar bill added to his collection, and
the farmer was left sitting hunched in the
kitchen rocker motionless, with "The Polar
and Tropical Worlds" lying unopened on his
lap. His family coming in on such a man of-
ten thought that he had been murdered. But
he had not.

But the book agent of to-day no longer
deals in a single book. Even so bulky a work
as "The Polar and Tropical Worlds." which
measured 14 inches x 10 inches x 5 inches, and
contained 700 cubic inches of information, is
not big enough for up-to-date business. The
ho ik that the agent carries now is a mere sam-
ple, or dummy, and represents a "set" run-
ning anywhere from twenty volumes to a
hundred.

Experience shows that a shrewd and calcu-
lating business man who would never buy one

book, taken singly, without scrutinizing its
price and its utility, falls entranced at the
mere aspect of a "set" of them. And the more
sweeping the "set" is, the more centuries it
covers, the more solid thought it embodies and
the higher the price of it, the more easily does
the man "fall" for it. The psychology in the
thing is this. Every man is at heart an ego-
tist. He wishes — if one may put it in the
plain every-day language of a textbook on
psychology — "to extend his personality be-
yond the limits of his identity." So when he
sees a glittering array of books, or glittering
illustrated prospectus, with the title "The
World's Great Thinkers from Bacon to Beelze-
bub," he is seized with a desire to include the
whole thing within himself. He wants, as it
were ,to swallow it. He feels that if he reaches
out and buys that set of books he will incorpor-
ate the entire mass of information inside him-
self.

The book agent, aware of his power, unfolds
the prospectus and points with his finger.
"See," he says. "Bacon." "Bacon," repeats
the business man. "Montesquieu," says the
agent, still pointing. "Montesquieu," repeats
the business man in a daze. "Spinoza," says
the agent "Spinoza," murmurs the business
man, almost in a trance. "Swedenborg and
Occult Philosophy," says the agent. This is
the coup de grace. "Occult Philosophy"
catches the business man as easily as the "Life
of Ulysses S. Grant" catches the elevator boy.
The agent slips the pen into his hand and he
signs, still hypnotised.

Nor does the hypnotism readily pass off. The
business man receives the books in due time
at his home, and he shows them to his wife,
hypnotising her. "See," he says, "Spinoza,"
"Spinoza," she repeats. "And look at this,
Swedenborg and the Occult Philosophy."
"Swedenborg," she murmurs. There is a touch
of pride in both of them. Let the neighbours
look to it, unless they also buy a "set" of "The
World's Great Thinkers." The business man's
wife and her housemaid, as they clean up the
"Thinkers" to the roar of a vacuum cleaner,
like to feel that they live in a cultivated home.

T have named the business man as the typi-
cal victim not through any malice towards him
hut as the mere statement of a fact. He is
the typical victim. The professional classes
(the lawyers and the doctors) are much hard-
er. The lawyer will perhaps buy an 'Encyclo-
paedia of Farming" just as a farmer will buy
an 'Encyclopaedia of Law," and a doctor will
buy a book called "The Horse." just as a liv-
ery stable keeper will buy a book called "The

January, 191!).

CANAD1 LA BOOK )M.\

Doctor." But this, after all, is small busin
For the sale of a "History of Peru in Twenty
Volumes from Atahuantepec bo Pocohontas,"
there is nothing like a business man, prefer-
ably a director of one of our great, companies.
This man has in his palatial home a room
which is called his study, where he plays
poker. A well bound "History of Peru" in
twenty volumes of gilt and leather standing
on the shelf behind the dealer gives to a game
of poker a touch of dignity, and — to a new
player — a feeling of security that is worth the
price. It is natural indeed for the entering
guest who sees his host sitting in a great
leather chair before a brass fender, in a room
lined to the ceiling with books, to feel that he
is in the presence of the kind of cultivated
scholar who would scorn to lie about open-
ing a jackpot, or carry an extra ace under the
tablecloth

But as against all other classes, the univer-
sity professoriate is absolutely immune from
the attacks of the book agent. It is impos-
sible to sell a book to a professor. As well
sell cabbage to a market gardener. I have my-
self seen a whole Faculty Room full of profes-
sors dispersed at one stroke by a book agent
who came in and offered to give them a one-
dollar dictionary for thirty-five cents. They
knew too much. Yet if the agent had offered
them fifteen-cent shares in an oil mine, or
debenture stock, at four cents, in a salt refin-
ery, they would have risen to it like brook
trout in June.

Nor is anything that has been said above to
be taken to mean that the book agent is in any
sense a faker or a humbug or a social para-
site of no use to the world. Quite the con-

tra r\ An accepted doctrine of evolution

bes us that nothing Burvi
euliar functions in Borne way fit it for its en-
vironment. Everything baa its purpose, and
the book agent has his. It is his peculiar
vice to society thai he goes aboul inoculating
people with the idea of the dignity of learning,

the majesty of the written word and the BU

iritj of the things of the mind over the
brute force of the body. Now this is the
tissue by means of which, invisible and unper
ceived, our socia] fabric holds together. A

world without hooks would degenerate into a
bear garden. Big business would climb to the
top of the pole and snarl its lesser fellows into
anarchy. It is I ause we keep up the pleasant

pretence that their are other things in the
world besides money and the grOBSer -
factions which it commands that the world
spins on as it does— creaking a good deal, but
still moving. The business man holds tight to
his money bags, but pays his homage to the
power of art and letters when he buys his
"History of Peru." And the book agent who
untwines his scarf in the office and confronts
the business man in his chair is, if he but
knew it, a very Daniel of enlightenment in the
den of the lions of greed.

More power to him in his task. And more
power also to all such other efforts and agen-
cies as are applied, directly and indirectly, to-
wards the same end. and especially to this
present venture of a Canadian Bookman which.
with this number, puts forth its earliest leaves
and the promise of its later fruit. May it flour-
ish, among the eager scramble of our com-
merce, like an old-world garden, hidden in the
heart of a metropolis, where the sounds of the
street are stilled in a sequestered silence.

CANADIAN BOOKM. 1 .V

January, 1919.

Why Neglect Early Canadians?

By R. H. HATHAWAY

SOME months ago. in a newspaper article
about a selection of books by Canadian
writers made for the Canadian Society
of New York City, it was stated that consider-
able difficulty had been experienced in mak-
ing the selection owing to the fact that while
there are many collectors of Canadiana —
that is, books about or relating to Canada —
there seemed to be few, if any, collectors of
Canadian literature. This is a peculiar fact,
for fart it undoubtedly is. particularly when
n i^ considered that in all other countries col-
lectors of native literature — by which is meant
works of an imaginative character as distinct
from works of historical, scientific or other
more or less material character -- are num-
erous. Take the United States, for example,
chiefly because it. in a physical sense, is the
nearest of all countries to as. Here collectors
of the original editions of the work of native
writers abound in the cities, in the t >wns and
elsewhere, and the competition for the more
desirable of such editions has led to results ab-
solutely astonishing. For instance. Edgar
Allan Poe's first book. '"Tamerlane and Other
Poems " of which only about three copies are
said to be still in existence, brought $2,500 at
auction in Xew York some twenty years ago,
and if another copy were offered to-day it
is not improbable that it would realize $10,000
or more. Then the copy of Poe's second book.
"Al Aaraff. Tamerlane, and Minor Poems,"
which Poe used in preparing "The Raven and
other Poems." brought $2,900 at the same
time, ami some time later the excessively rare
first issue of his "Murder in the Rue Morgue"
sold for no less than $3,800, the highest price
ever paid for a book by a native writer of
the United States. And Poe is not the only
United States writer whose books' bring extra-
ordinary prices, for some years ago $2,200 was
paid for what was said to be a unique issue
of Longfellow's "New England Tragedy."
These prices, it must be admitted, stand by
themselves; but there are several staore at
Least of books by these and other writers, such

as Irving, Lowell, Emerson. Mark Twain, etc..
which readily bring sums running into three
figures when offered at auction.

Now turn to Canada, and what do we find?
Is there a single book other, perhaps, than
historical in character by a Canadian which
would bring so much as $25 if offered at auc-
tion in Montreal or Toronto to-day? So far
as I am aware, but one book is at all likely to
approximate this figure— "St. Ursula's Con-
vent, or The Nun of Canada," which can
proudly boast of being the first Canadian
novel — but if it should ever do so it would be
because of U. S. competition, for it ranks as
one of the desirable items of early American
fiction, a line of collecting which many col-
lectors across the line follow.

But, it will be asked, have we now, or have
we ever had, any writers in this country whose
books are likely to be sought after as the U.S.
collectors seek for books by Poe. Longfellow,
etc.? It is, of course, for Father Time alone
to answer that question, but if it were put to
me I should not hesitate to say emphatically,
"Yes." We may not have produced a Poe in
this country so far, but I do not think that it
will be denied that we have had, and now
have, writers among us whose work will not
lose by comparison with the best that is being
done in England or in the United States.

Of course, my purpose in writing in this way
is not to advocate or encourage the paying of
fancy prices for first or other rare editions
of our Canadian writers. What I wish to do
is to stimulate interest, if I can, in these writers
by urging the collection of their books upon
those who have felt the collecting spirit. The
intellectual standards of any people may be
best judged by the interest it displays in its
own literature, and how better can the exist-
ence of that interest be evidenced than by men
here and there busying themselves in bringing
together the books which enter into or make up
that literature?

January, L919.

( i \ i/'/.i.v BOOH 1/ I \

•_'l

Some Canadian Illustrators

By ST. GEORGE Bl RCOVNK

ILLUSTRATORS in Canada" would have
condensed this article, for few are they in
number. The field is Limited and the opportuni-
ties are restricted. The subjecl of "Canadian
Illustrators," however, offers a wider field, and
even scratching the surface in a cursory way re
veals surprises. Many illustrators who havi
tablished themselves in the United States are
sou-, of this Dominion.

It has long been the fashion, among those who
have pride in Canada and curse the hope that
some day a distinctive national art and litera-
ture may he hers, to he almost angry with Bliss

(ARTICLE No. 1)

and " Who's Who

heniL' regarded as Amen
can artists. A few names that immediately
come to mind are Jaj Hambidge, Arthur 1 1
big, Arthur William Brown, I'.. Cory Kilverl
John Conacher, II. -I. Mowat, and Norman Price.
The late Philip Boileau was a < 'anadian.

Given tin' market, Canada would quickly de-
velop illustrators, though modern illustrative
methods utilized by newspapers tin-eaten to roll
the aspiring draughtsman of tie- most valuable
training he could acquire. The introduction of
the photographer and the perfection of the half-
tone plate is. excepl for special purposes, driv-

- -v

Illustration by Miss Mary Essex.

— By courtesy of "The Veteran.'

Carman. Roberts. Stringer and a few other wri-
ters for leaving the Dominion and establishing
themselves in the United States. It was a sim-
ple instance of going to the market. In the ease
of Canadian illustrators the settlement of many
in the Republic seems to have been the natural
step after receiving their artistic training across
the border. Associations had been formed, high
art is, possibly excepting portraiture, a notor-
iously poor business, and illustration was a mar-
ketable product. So we see a little band of Can-
adian illustrators making their place and name
away from home and, except in their own circle

ing the black and white draughtsman from the
field. The cartoon and the '•comic" still re-
quire him and he can be utilized in preparing
the "lay-out"— the line design which frequent-
ly frames a group of half-tone photographs in
newspapers and magazines. How valuable is
the experience gained by a newspaper artist who
aspires to serious illustration can be irathered
from the personal opinion of Charles W. Jeff-
erys. the leading illustrator in Canada. "I
worked in New York for some years on the Art
Staff of The Herald in the palmy days of pen
and ink drawing. Though the work was exact-

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

January, 1919.

ing and strenuous, I count the experience gain-
ed there as most valuable. It gave me a know-
ledge of life at first hand, a training in quick
and accurate observation, and in the graphic
expression of life and character that I do not
think I could have got in any other way."

The occasion will produce illustrators in Can-
ada as surely as it has done in Great Britain
and on the Continent where, in pre-war days, an
abundance of illustrated periodicals offered a
wide and ready market for work meritorious
and otherwise. As a magazine and book pub-
lishing centre in an important way Canada is
as yet in its infancy, and the opportunity for
a Canadian artist to illustrate the work of a
kinsman comes so rarely as to be something of
an event. Years ago such a chance came to the
late Henri Julien when Harper's Magazine pub-
lished Louis Frechette's Canadian folk-lore
stories. Julien, who excelled in depicting the
French-Canadian habitant in his native sur-
roundings— in the fields, sugar maple groves,
or festive jollifications — besides his illustrative
work as chief artist on the Montreal Star, was
able to utilize his knowledge of historical events
and costume in the Quebec Tercentenary num-
ber of the Montreal Standard.

The work of Canadian illustrators in the bulk
is marked by a wholesome spirit, and, as a rule,
reflects the attitude of the artist towards life.
Fortunately, too, the publishers for which so
many Canadian illustrators do work issue from
their presses publications aimed to enlighten

and entertain readers still content with the one-
God-one-wife standard of their hardy ancestors.
The macabre is- generally absent, and who shall
say we are the losers thereby?

Charles W. Jefferys, the leading illustrator
working in Canada today, has had a wide and
varied experience, and a long list of illustrated
books to his credit. Born in Kent, England, he
confesses to being caught young and growing up
in Canada. The way was not always smooth
and many stages which must have proved irk
some had to be passed before he arrived at his
present high place. Study in the classes of the
old Toronto Art Students' League, and instruc-
tion in the studios of G. A. Reid and C. M.
Manly, was followed by that most valuable edu-
cation of all — practical work. In the practice
of lithography, commercial advertising design-
ing, and newspaper illustration he "picked up"
most of his art education. Then came his work
on the New York Herald. As special artist for
that paper he "covered" some important as-
signments— the Pullman strike, Bryan Conven-
tion, and Pan-American Exposition among oth-
ers. Eighteen years ago he returned to Canada
resolving to express something of its life and
landscape. This period has not been without
its discouragements and Mr. Jefferys has turned
his hand to many kinds of art work — illustrat-
ing books, magazines and newspapers, design-
ing for advertising purposes, painting in oil and
water color and teaching drawing. In 1900
as special artist of the Toronto Globe he "cov-
ered" the Royal Tour of the Duke and Duchess
of Cornwall and York — the present King and
Queen. For several years, too, he gave a cer-
tain amount of his time and work to the Toron-
to Daily Star. Most of
t li e leading Canadian
periodicals have printed
his work, and the stu-
dents in the schools of
Ontario can enjoy his
drawings in the readers

Slip cover by R. E. Johnston, for "The Suicide of
Monarchy," by Baron de Schelking.

anuary,

1919.

CAS I/'/ i \ BOOK 1/ I \

2.1

now in use. < Canadian history iii particular has
interested him and man} of his illustrations
have deall with Hi.' life of the pasl in < !anada.
This sympathy with the past is indicated bj

the titles lit' some of the I ks he has illustrated :

Wacousta, A Tale of the Pontiac Conspiracy, by
.Major Richardson; Brock by YV. 1,'. Nursey;
Tecumseh, by N. S. Qurd; Uncle .inn's tana
diaii Nursery Rhymes, by David Boyle; 'The
.Makers of Canada, 10 volumes; Madeleine de
Vercheres, by A. (i. Doughty; The Chronicles
of Canada, 32 volumes; and <'M .Man Savarin,
by E. W. Thomson.

.Mr. Jefferys has shown practical interest in
matters artistic. He was one of the founders

of The Arts and Letters Club of Toronto, ami

of the Society of Graphic Art, He is an a
ciate of the Royal Canadian Academj of Arts,

president of the Ontario Societ) of Artists, anil

instructor in free hand drawing and watei
color in the Department of Architecture in the

Universitj Of Toronto. Por some years he has

been of the Fine Arts i lommissionera of the

Canadian National Exhibition, and a member
of the Council of the Toronto Art Museum,

'< I composition and clean rigorous virile line

characterize his pen ami ink illustrations.

John Sloan Gordon, although horn in Brant-
ford, can be counted a Hamilton artist as he
settled iii the "Ambitious City" when nine
months old. At sixteen he was employed in a
railwaj office and three years later was able
to develop his taste for drawing in the Art De-
partment of the Howe}] Lithographing Com-
pany, and by attending the nighl classes of the
Hamilton Art School. Later he opened a studio
and by painting watercolors of a popular
sort, which found a fairly ready sale, was
enabled in 1895 to go to
Paris, where he studied
drawing at Julien's and
under i onstant and Lau-
rens. After a stay in
London. Edinburgh and
Glasgow, lie returned to
Canada in 1897, and re-
suming life in Hamilton
he turned his energies to
designing book covers.
illustrations for the Can-
adian Magazine, the

Slip cover by R. E. Johnston, for "The Suicide of
Monarchy, ' ' by Baron de Schelking.

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

January, 1919.

Christmas issues of the Toronto Globe, and
decorative drawings for Eraser's books pub-
lished by Charles Scribner. lie illustrated "The
Master of Life," by W. D. Lighthall, K.C., of
Montreal. Mr. Gordon, who is a member of the
Ontario Society of Artists, is head of the Art
Department of the Hamilton Technical School.

F. S. Coburn, probably best known by his
illustrations to the late Dr. Drummond's "Habi-
tant" and other dialect poems dealing with
French-Canadians, was born at Upper Mel-
bourne, Que., and studied in Montreal, Berlin,
Prance, London, and New York. As a painter
he is well known. He has illustrated the works
of Dickens, Edgar Allan Poe, Washington Irv-
ing. He has probably been happiest in his draw-
ings of the habitant,
and the illustrations
to Frechett e 's
" Christ m a S in
K re n c h Canada"
were done by him.

The work of Fer-
gus Kyle, Toronto,
has appeared in the
Canadian Magazine
and the Courier. He
is better known as a
cartoonist. He is at
present overseas with
an artillery unit.

E. J. Dinsmore is
a Torontonian, and
his advance in the
field of illustration
has been rapid — his
first published draw-
ing having appeared
since the war began.
He studied at the
Central Ontario
School of Art, and
the Pennsylvania
Academy of Art and
Design, and has
worked under such
well known artists as
C. M. Manly, Daniel
Garber, Joseph Pear-
son and Henry Mc-
( 'arter. Several prizes
and scholarships went
to him during his
student days. Fond of travel, he has
seen much of America and Europe, and was
in Holland when the war broke out. Mr.
Dinsmore's work now appears continuously in
three Canadian publications — Maclean's Maga-
zine, Canadian Home Journal, and Canada
Weekly. His taste in art runs to the work of
Brangwyn, Crisp, Sorolla y Bastida, Zuloaga,
Degas, Steinlen, and Pennell, though the in-
fluence of any of these artists is not apparent
in his illustrative work which is done in black
and white wash. Tramping, paddling, and sail-
ing an- Mr. Dinsmore's favorite pleasure pur-
suits, a taste as thoroughly and enthusiastically
shared bv his wife.

Illustration by Arthur Heming, for "The Cow
Puncher, " by K. J. C. Stead.

H. W. Cooper, who went overseas with the
Canadian Army Service Corps, and is now at-
tached to the Intelligence Branch of the Can-
adian forces in France, though an Englishman
by birth, worked several years in Toronto. His
clever and interesting pen sketches of life at
the front, accompanied by sprightly written
comment, have appeared in recent issues of
Maclean's.

T. G. Greene has specialized in illustrating
stories of rural Ontario life. His work in this
connection displays knowledge and sympathy.
These illustrations have appeared in the Courier
and Presbyterian publications.

The drawiugs of children by Miss Maud Mc-
Laren are sympathetic in character. Her work,

which appears in the
Canadian Magazine,
the Canadian Home
Journal, and Every-
woman 's World,
shows a strong sense
of decorative compo-
sition.

Miss Estelle Kerr
is a writer-illustrator
who has contributed
to the Canadian Mag-
azine and the Cour-
ier. She studied at
the Art Students'
League, New York,
and in Paris, Switz-
erland, Italy and
Holland. As a paint-
er, landscapes and
portraits have spe-
cially interested her.
"Little Sam of Vol-
endam, " a book of
rhymes and pictures,
she published in 1908.
Miss Kerr is now ov-
erseas engaged in
war work.

K. E. Johnston is
another Toronto ar-
tist who is forging to
the front in the field
of illustration. Born
in the Queen City in
1885 he put in three
or four vears woi'k-

ing at almost anything, then studied drawing
under William Cruickshank, and at 19 serious-
ly engaged in designing for commercial pur-
poses, and did illustrating for various Canadian
magazines. Then followed five years in Lon-
don where he studied under J. Walter Sick-
ert, pupil of Whistler and a leading art critic,
and at the Polytechnic. While he did some il-
lustrations for light fiction his time in London
was principally occupied with advertising work.
Eighteen months before the outbreak of the
war he returned to Canada and joined the art
staff of Toronto Saturday Night. A book-
jacket for Baron de Schelking's "Suicide of
Monarchy" is one of the most effective designs

January, 1919.

C I \ I/'/ l \ BOOK M I \

he has done since his return. At presenl In- has

under contemplation the illustrati I' a I k

dt' humorous essays lis a well known Canadian
author.

Dorothy Stevens, whose etchings of Continenl
al scenes have been reproduced iirthe Canadian
Magazine, is well known as an exponenl of that
medium and also as a painter. She is a member
of the Chicago Society of Etchers, ami a win
ner of the Royal Canadian Academj travelling
scholarship. She studied m Toronto and Paris.
Two of her prints have been acquired for the
Canadian National Gallery, Ottawa.

.Marguerite Puller Allan is a .Montrealer and
a student of the Art Association of Montreal
classes directed by .Mr. William Brymner,
C.M.G., R.C.A., past President of the Royal
■Canadian Academy. She continued her train
in<* at the Art Students' League, New York,
and the Art Institute of Boston, and in Canada.
until recently, has been best known as a painter.
Mrs. Allan has contributed verses and illustra-
tions of interest to children to St. Nicholas and
the Youth's Companion. Recently John Lane
published "The Rhyme Garden." written and
illustrated by her. Quaint composition and the
effective employment of black and white masses
in a decorative way characterize the drawings
of this volume.

■Mi- Vlai garel Marj I U tic last tun

names grace lei drawings) was born in Toronto
and commenced her training at the A rt School
of the Albright An Gallerj in Buffalo, where
her teachers were Marj Coxe, Ernest Posbery,
ami Urquharl Wilcox. While there she won a
scholarship to the Art Students' League in New
Fork mi, of eight given by that school
throughout the United States. Here she stud
ied portrait painting under William M. Chase,
and drawing under Frank Vincent DuMond,
Kenneth Hayes Miller and Eugene Speicher.
Natural talent and industry were again reward
ed with a scholarship in the Life chiss. another
in the Sketch class, ami honorable mention in
the Chase Portrait Class. Her published work
has appeared in the < lanadian Home Journal,
the Canadian Magazine, Everywoman's World.
the Canadian Courier, Canadian Poultry Jour
nal. By-Water Magazine and the Veteran. Am

mi- her illustrated stories were a serial. "The
Magpie's .Vest." by Isabel Patterson, and two
\>\ Arthur Stringer. In the Dominion Govern
ment's Victorj I, nan Poster Competition si ■

ceived one of the prizes. Miss F.ssex is ;, mem-
be!- of the Art students' League, and of the
Three Arts Club, both New York bodies.
tT<> h, Continued.

c.\A.\rfffy>

Illustration by Chas. W. Jefferys, from "Old Man
Savarin" (C. W. Thompson).

r AS API AN BOOKMAN

January, 1919.

Rhymes With and Without Reason

By J. M. GIBBON

POETRY," said Don Marquis once in his
column in the New York Sun, "Poetry
with us is a business; it takes time, muscular
effort, nervous energy and, sometimes, thought
to produce a poem."' In the same vein he said,

Poetry is something we once got paid

A dollar a line for;

But we're not going to tell you the name

Of the Magazine;

We're saving it.

A third of his definitions was

Poetry is something Amy Lowell says
Carl Sandburg writes.

While in a more serious mood he gave this defi-
nition :

Poetry is the clinking together of two unex-
pected coins
In the shabby pocket of life.

With airy definitions such as these in mind,
the classic definition of Theodore Watts-Dunton
in an old edition of the Encyclopaedia Britan-
nica seems elephantine. "Poetry," he says (I
quote from memory), "is the concrete and artis-
tic expression of the human mind in emotional
and rhythmical language." Ponderous, you
will say, and yet there are those who take poetry
seriously, to whom poetry represents the sup-
reme rendering of beautiful thoughts.

They are not in the majority, I fear — other-
wise poverty and poetry would not so often go
hand in hand. To quote Don Marquis again,
"Publishing a volume of verse is like dropping
a rose petal down the Grand Canyon and wait-
ing to hear the echo."

Poverty, however, has not kept the poet from
singing — never indeed were poets so numerous
and so prolific as today. "Poets," says one
editor, "seem as numerous as sparrows through
the cool sunshine, and almost as quarrelsome."
Their name indeed is legion. A hundred of
them are represented in the Anthology of "The
New Poetry," edited by Harriet Munroe and
Aliee Corbin Henderson, the editors of the Chi-
• magazine called "Poetry." and yet this

anthology omits many familiar names — Law-
rence Binyon, Katherine Tynan, Francis Thomp-
son, Bliss Carman and Alan Seeger, for instance.
These hundred who are apparently the elect are
responsible for over two hundred volumes quot-
ed in the bibliography and for vast quantities of
stray verse scattered through innumerable mag-
azines. When the editors of ' ' Poetry ' ' not very
long ago asked for a poem on a certain subject,
over seven hundred manuscripts came in re-
sponse through the mails.

What is the reason for this apparently ir-
repressible output? Is it because, as Don Mar-
quis faintly insinuates, there are magazines that
pay a dollar a line, or is it because the human
race — particularly the race on this side of the
Atlantic — is growing more imaginative, more
idealistic, more sensitive to music of words ? Or
is it — and this is one of the thoughts which
have come from recent reading — is it because
the discovery or re-discovery of "free verse"
removed the barriers of rhyme and let in the
multitude? Are there so many poets today
because poetry, now that it may be rhymeless
and irregular in rhythm and form, looks easier
to write?

Rhythm and quantities, indeed, though they
may unconseio\isly tickle the ear, are not very
extensively understanded of the people. "The
public," says Richard le Gallienne, "is a good
deal like a pretty girl I was talking to the other
day. 'Of course,' I said to her 'you know what
hexameters are, don't you?' 'Sure,' she re-
plied, 'I had a ride in one the other day through
the Park.' "

Yet it is only fair to say that the leaders in
the free verse movement are scholarly poets —
Ezra Pound, for instance, or Richard Alding-
ton— familiar in the original with the literature
of Greece, which indeed in the choruses of
Aeschylus and Sophocles provides the irrefut-
able precedent. Aldington belongs to thfe
group known as Imagists, whose creed is to
use the language of common speech but to

January. 1919.

OANADIAX BOOR i/.l \

■11

employ always the exact word, not the
merely decorative word; to create new
rhythms as the expression of new words; to
allow absolute freedom in the choice of sub
ject; to present an image rendering particulars
exactly and not dealing in generalities, however
magnificent and sonorous; to produce poetry
that is hard and clear, never blurred nor indefi-
nite ; to be concentrated.

Typical is Aldington's "Choricos," with the
lines,

0 Death,

Thou art an healing wind

That blowest over white flowers

A-tremble with dew;

■Thou art a wind flowing

Over long leagues of lonely sea;

Thou art the dusk and the fragrance;

Thou art the lips of love mournfully smiling;

Thou art the pale peace of one

Satiate with old desires;

Thou art the silence of beauty,

And we look no more for the morning;

We yearn no more for the sun,

Since with thy white hands,

Death,

Thou crownest us with the pallid chaplets,

The slim colorless poppies

Which in thy garden alone

Softly thou gatherest.

Ezra Pound, in spite of his eccentricities and
egoism and postures, has a lyric quality of high
order. Here is "The Return," descriptive of
the Furies and just as Greek as could be: —

See, they return; ah. see the tentative
Movements, and the slow feet,
The trouble in the pace and the uncertain
Wavering !

See, they return, one, and by one,
With fear, as half-awakened;
As if the snow should hesitate
And murmur in the wind,

and half turn back,
These were the " Wing 'd-with- Awe,"

inviolable.

Gods of that winged shoe!
With them the silver hounds,

sniffing the trace of air!

Haie ! Haie !

These were the swift to harry;
These the keen-scented;
These were the souls of blood.

Slow on the leash

pallid the leash-men !

That, you will say, is a Greek subject, but here
is a lyric on New York which Sappho might have
written :

My City, my beloved, my white !

Ah slender,
Listen ! Listen to me, and I will breathe into

thee a soul.
Delicately upon the reed, attend me !

do I know thai I owi mad,
Fur In it an ti null m,i peoplt surly with tra\
Then is no maid,
Neither could I play upon any reed if I had

My f'ity, my beloved,

Thou art a maid with do brea

Thou art Blender as a silver r I,

Listen to me, attend me I

And I will breat lie into thee a soul,

And thou shalt live for ever.

Ezra Pound lias given a new flair to the i
gram, as for instance in "The Garden":

Like a skein of loose silk blown against a wall
She walks by the railing of a path in Kensing-
ton Gardens,
And she is dying piece meal of a sort of emo-
tional anaemia.

And round about there is a rabble

Of the filthy, sturdy, unkillable infants of the

very poor.
They shall inherit the earth.

In her is the end of breeding.

Her boredom is exquisite and excessive.

She would like some one to speak \o her,
And is almost afraid that I will commit that
indiscretion.

Born of Greek inspiration also is that volume
of free verse poems which is perhaps the only
instance in recent years of poetry becoming a
best seller— I refer to the "Spoon River Anth-
ology." The title is, I take it. an admission of
the debt the poet owes to the Sepulchral Epi-
grams of the Greek Anthology, numbers of
which have that ironic vein which is the keynote
of their Spoon River offspring. Edgar Lee
Masters, of course, has created an entirely new
and original work — has merely taken an old
idea and applied it with modern methods, and
with admirable skill and breadth of vision. One
wishes that in his later poems he had attained
the same heights. Unfortunately he seems to
be concerned now more with quantity than
quality, and is endeavoring to prove to the very
prolific Miss Amy Lowell that he can write more
verse per month than she.

Although free verse or vers libre, the unrhyni-
ed verse with lines of irregular length, is gen-
erally taken to be a modern movement, it is more
strictly a revival. Rhyme is a comparatively
recent invention — barely known before the tenth
century and not accepted into English litera-
ture till the days of Chaucer. But most re-
vivals are due to intense emotion which bursts
the bonds of moribund rite and tradition, and
the revival of free verse is no exception to the
rule. It is the expression in literature of the
same spirit of unrest which has introduced im-

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

January, 1919.

pressionism into painting, flower masses into the

old formal garden, and Debussy, Strauss and
Scriabine into music

Rhyme was definitely established as a suit-
able form for English verse by Chaucer. It
had been used before, but never so happily.
Two centuries later it had become so popular
that it was even considered vulgar, and some
of the more accomplished poets in the days of
Elizabeth reacted into blank verse.

In the seventeenth century rhyme came into
fashion again, so much so that Dryden in his
"Defence of Poetry" could say, "Blank verse
is acknowledged to be too low for a poem. ' ' The
royalist rhymesters of his day were certainly
accomplished — daintiest of all being Robert
Herrick, as for instance in "To Daffodils":

We have short time to stay, as you;

We have as short a spring;
As quick a growth to meet decay,

As you, or any thing.
We die

As your hours do, and dry
Away,

Like to the summer's rain;
Or as the pearls of morning's dew.

Ne'er to be found again.

But for 150 years after Dryden rhyme and
rhythm became so formal and conventional that
poetic expression was stifled, the truly lyric
note being almost confined to the less sophisti-
cated poets of Scotland.

The spirit which came into literature about
the time of the French Revolution broke down
this stiff conventionality — and the nineteenth
century opens with more elastic metres. Words-
worth, Byron, Shelley and Keats rang changes on
the old iambic pentameter, Byron in particu-
lar reverting to the more musical, if more in-
tricate Spencerian stanza, Wordsworth brows-
ing around in blank verse or sonnet form, while
Shelley wove rhyme patterns of his own, intro-
ducing anapaestic and dactyllic measures.

English metre became still more elastic in
the hands of the Victorians — Roberl and Eliza-
beth Browning, Swinburne, Dante and Christina
Rossetti, William Morris, Matthew Arnold and
Tennyson, while a distinctive rhythm was
used by George Meredith in his "Love in the
Valley," a rhythm which ignores the old tum-
ti-tum measure, and while using a classical
metre follows the stress and rests anil time in-
tervals of natural speech:

Under yonder beech-tree single on the green-
sward,
- Couched with her arms behind her golden
head,

Knees and tresses folded to slip and ripple idly.

Lies my young love sleeping in the shade.
Had 1 the heart to slide an arm beneath her,
Press her parting lips as her waist I gath-
er slow,
Waking in amazement she could not but em-
brace me :
Then would she hold me and never let me
go?

The American poets of that time were more
or less mild echoes of their English contempor-
aries until Walt Whitman sent an electric shock
through the world of rhymes with his "Leaves
of Grass,"

, Nowadays, except to Bostonians and others
of that kind who take American literature of the
19th century seriously, Walt Whitman is too
often a verbose old man whose long-winded lines
are a useful soporific just before turning out
the lights, but in his time he certainly did good
by setting poets a-thinking, and like the cur-
ate's egg he is excellent in parts. There are
indeed some who claim that as a sleep inducer
Walt Whitman must yield place to that other
darling of the Bostonian, Sir Rabindranath
Tagore.

Rhyme was shocked, but it was not killed,
and the poetry of the late nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries was still predominantly
rhymed. Much of that rhyming was of high
technical skill, for the English were becoming
a more musical nation, more sensitive to the
niceties of metrical harmony.

Now if all English verse in rhyme had been
written with equal skill, there might have been
no movement in favor of vers libre. But rhyme
in less inspired poets has led to inversions of
phrase which disturb the natural sequence of
thought, it encourages the use of obsolete phrases
used only because they easily rhyme — such as
meseems, bedight, forsooth, and the like — it re-
sults in artificial expression, it has been re-
sponsible for doggerel-writers like Longfellow
or the confused involutions of a thousand Son-
neteers.

Hence a new school of poets which declares
"Away with rhyme! — Let us express our emo-
tions without this fetter, in natural language of
our own time, with rhythm if you please, but
not necessarily in lines of regular length. Let
us consider the content rather than the form of
our poetry."

"There must," says Ezra Pound, "be no book
words, no periphrases, no inversions. There
must be no cliches, set phrases, stereotyped,
journalese — no straddled adjectives (as 'addled
mosses dank') — nothing that you couldn't in
some circumstance, in the stress of emotion, say.
Every literaryism, every book word fritters

January, L919,

CA \ \l>l l.\ BOOh IMA

2\)

auav a scrap of the reader's patience, a scrap of
his sense of your sincerity. When our really
feels and thinks, one stammers with simple
speech." Elsewhere he gives as his ideals:

1. Direct treatment.

'2. Use absolutely no word that does not
contribute to the presentation — use no
superfluous word, no adjective which
does not reveal something. Avoid ab-
stractions.

3. As regards rhythm, compose in the se-
quence of the musical phrase, not in se-
quence of a metronome. The rhythm must
correspond exactly to the emotion or
shade or emotion to be expressed. Your
rhythm structure should not destroy the
shape of your words or their natural
sound or their meaning.

To illustrate what this prophet of free verse
means, take the 23rd Psalm. The metrical ver-
sion used in the Scots Kirk is rhymed and runs:

The Lord's my Shepherd; I'll not want.

He makes me down to lie

In pastures green ; he leadeth me

The quiet waters by.

The Authorised Version has no inversions, such
as "down to lie," "pastures green," Quiet wa-
ters by," but follows the natural sequence of
thought. Its lines are of irregular length, but
who will say it has not just as much claim to
be called poetry? At any rate it is "free
verse ' ' :

The Lord is my Shepherd : I shall not want
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures
He leadeth me beside the still waters.

One modern, who in certain of his verses prac-
tises the direct simplicity and unfettered
rhythm which Ezra Pound preaches is ( 'arl
Sandburg, a Chicago poet whose chief handi-
cap is that he seems to have read nothing earlier
than Walt Whitman. As a result he lacks self-
criticism, is to often unmusical, and is therefore
best read in anthologies. His "Under the Har-
vest Moon" has admirable felicity of phrase:

Under the harvest moon,
When the soft silver
Drips shimmering
Over the garden nights,
Death, the gray mocker,
Comes and whispers to you
As a beautiful friend
Who remembers.

Under the summer roses
When the flagrant crimson
Lurks in the dusk
Of the wild red leaves,

Love, With little hands,

i lomea and touches you
With a thousand memoi

And asks you

Beautiful, unanswerable questions.

Bead the little nine line word picture I
and you must admil that rhyme and uniform
symmetry of syllables are non-essentials:

Desolate and lone

All night long on the lake

Where fog trail-, and mist creeps,

The whistle of -., boat

< alls and cries unendingly,

lake sonic lost child
In tears and trouble

Bunting the harbor's bre
And the harbor's eyes.

Carl Sandburg is not always so inspired. He
likes to be thought a roughneck, and prints as
poems what mighl better be .■kissed as indiffer-
ent prose. Take for instance "lee Handler'":

I know an ice handler who wears a flannel
shirt with pearl buttons the size of a
dollar,

And he lugs a hundred-pound hunk into a
saloon icebox, helps himself to cold ham
and rye bread,

Tells the bartender it's hotter than yesterday,
and will be hotter yet tomorrow, by
Jesus,

And is on his way with his head in the air and
a hard pair of fists.

He spends a dollar or so every Saturday night
on a two hundred pound woman who
washes dishes in the Hotel Morrison.

He remembers when the union was organized
he broke the noses of two scabs and
loosened the nuts so the wheels came off
six different wagons one morning, and
he came around and watched the ice
melt in the street.

All he was sorry for was one of the scabs bit
him on the knuckles of the right hand,
so they bled when he came around to the
saloon to tell the boys about it.

A little of this kind of thing at first amuses,
but very soon it palls. The truth is that the
vers librists write too much or at least have too
much published. You have to wade through
acres of camouflaged prose to find the thrill
of sincere emotion. Rhyme at its worst was
never so verbose as this. Too many of the vers
librists fancy that a catalogue of names or epi-
thets is impressive, whereas it is merely dull.
Walt Whitman who introduced this fashion,
suffers the penalty. Walt is more often prais-
ed than read.

Vers hire is too often used as a cloak for
slipshod, slovenly writing by a host of eharla-

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

January, 1919.

tans, of whom the most impudent are to be
found in the 1917 volume of a publication en-
titled "Others," e.g., Walter Conrad Arens-
berg whose "Axiom"' I quote:

From a determinable horizon
absent

spectacularly from a midnight
which has yet to make public

a midnight
in the first place incompatibly copied
the other

in observance of the necessary end

guarantees
the simultaneous insularity

of a structure
self-contained
a little longer

than the general direction
of goods opposed
tangentically.

These, however, are but the campfollowers of
the movement parading as soldiers, and their
Falstaffian braggadocio provokes little more
than derision. Yet in spite of the eccentrics,
the fact remains that verse of a very high or-
der has been written in the last twenty years
without the metrical and rhyming conventions
of preceding centuries. Within the last ten
years just as fine poetry has been written in free
verse as in rhyme, and poets are foolish to deny
themselves this freedom from metrical fetters.

Rhyme is the natural refuge of the minor
poet. Without its aid he is unable to create
a phrase which has much chance of being re-
membered. Without its aid in many cases he
could not write anything at all. It is the rhyme
which suggests his thoughts. He makes the
throstle sing because it rhymes with spring, his
sky is blue because it rhymes with dew. Now,
if the thought suggested by a rhyme is really
a good thought, there is no harm done. It is a
good thing for the race when a child is born of
love. It is also a good thing for the race when
love is born of a child. The chances are then
all the greater that there will be more children
to follow.

In the ease of Keats, whose manuscripts with
all their variant readings and corrections have
been at the mercy of Buxton Forman, there is
lie question that the rhyme was often father
to the thought. So that the minor poets do
rhyme in good company.

The vers librists are also in good company.

Shakespeare's plays are dated by the preval-
ence or paucity of rhyme; the rhyming plays
are for other reasons also proved to be the ear-
lier. Sidney Lanier in his "Science of English
Verse" points out that Shakespeare in his later
plays such as "Measure for Measure*' uses so

many run-on lines and phrase groups which
insert pauses within the body of the line, that
the line group is practically obliterated for the
ear. Were it obliterated for the eye also by the
typesetter, Shakespeare would admittedly be-
long to the vers librists. Collins in his " Ode
to Evening" discards rhyme successfully in a
metre which is not blank verse although it re-
tains a symmetry of lines.

Such, however, was the charm of carefully
handled rhyme that it could not be killed. It
was well suited to the English temperament,
which always has preferred melody to orches-
tration and tunes to tone pictures.

In the hands of certain poets of rich vocabu-
lary rhyme has proved an added charm to fine
thought. The most ardent champions of free
verse admit the magic of John Keats. Take
the '"Ode on a Grecian Urn," for instance, the
second verse :

Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard
Are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play
on;
Not to the sensual ear, but, more endear 'd

Pipe to the spirit ditties of no tone :
Fair youth, beneath the trees, thou canst not
leave
Thy song, nor ever can those trees be bare ;
Bold Lover, never, never canst thou kiss,
Though winning near the goal — yet, do not
grieve ;
She cannot fade, though thou hast not
thy bliss,
For ever wilt thou love, and she be fair !

Yet so far from being a necessary quality of
poetry, rhyme is at the best a convention. It is
possible to write real poetry in rhyme just as
it is possible to express real grief while wear-
ing a top hat and frock coat at a funeral, but
there are other ways also both of writing poetry
and of expressing grief.

Of all the forms of rhyme, familiar to Eng-
lish verse of the last fifty years, the most
severely conventional is probably the Sonnet,
and particularly the Petrarchan form. This
form of Sonnet requires the poet to find four
rhyming words twice over within eight lines,
a strain on vocabulary which was too much for
Shakespeare who appropriated an easier form
of Sonnet for his particular use. However, the
minor poet of to-day revels in this Petrarchan
form. The result has been an appalling output
of distorted language and twisted thought. Such
a metre is as fatal to natural movement of
thought as the average corset is to the female
figure. Of course if you are used only to the
corsetted figure, you may think the Venus of
Milo indecent.

January, L919.

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

:;i

Rhyme is essentially an appeal to the ear, but
the ear is doI the only avenue of approach to
the human intelligence. In the days of the bal
hnl monger, poetry was more spoken than read,
Imi in these days of the printed page, verse is
read a hundred times to once when it is said
aloud.

Free verse which in practised hands allows a
Line to a phrase, however short or long that may
be, presents the thought in the form which
most easily gets home to the reader. The wri-
ter of five verse who chops his lines irregular-
ly, without any method or reason except to be
eccentric, is merely a poor craftsman who does
not understand his tools. Hut the skilful wri-
' ter of free verse, to use the phrase of a printer,
••makes type work.'" and "making type work"
is just as legitimate an aid to the poet as the
repetition of a note in rhyme.

There are, of course, slaves who become so
used to their servitude that they would be un-
happy as freemen, and so there are rhyming
poets who shudder at the thought of free verse.
It savours to them of license. And yet if they
only take courage and brave an ignorant ridi-
cule, how much could they accomplish? I
think, for instance, of Sara Teasdale, whose
"Love Songs'" was voted by a committee of the
Poetry Society of America the best book of
poems published in 1917. Sara Teasdale is the
most skilful and dainty of rhymers — rather
thin in thought but perfect in technique. Of
her ' ' Love Songs ' ' there is only one in free verse,
but how much higher it stands than the others
in intensity. "But Not to Me" is typical of
her rhyme:

The April night is still and sweet
With flowers on every tree;

Peace comes to them on quiet feet,
But not to me.

My peace is hidden in his breast

Where I shall never be ;
Love comes tonight to all the rest.

But not to me.

Compare with this her unrhymed poem
' ' Summer Night. Rivei side

In the wild, soft summer darkness

How many and many a night we two together

Sat in the park and watched the Hudson

Wearing her lights like golden spangles

Glinting on black satin.

The rail along the curving pathway

Was low in a happy place to let us cross

And down the hill a tree that dripped with

bloom
Sheltered us.

While your kisses and the flowers,
Palling, falling
Tangled my hair ....

The frail white stats moved slowly over the
sky.

And now, far oil'

In the fragrant darkness

The tree is tremulous again \\ ith bit

For June comes back.

Tonighl what girl

Dreamily before her mirror shakes from her
hair

This year's blossoms, clinging in its coils?

Between the formal symmetrical rhymed
verse and the irregular fi verse there are cer-
tain poems with lines of irregular length, hut
still rhymed, which may he called transition.
Notable among these are | ms by T. S. Eliot,

Ford Madox Hueffer and Conrad Aiken. T. S.
Eliot has a curious -kill in suggesting atmos-
phere-the atmosphere particularly of English
middle class life — least inspiring of subjects to
the ordinary poets — as for instance in the
"Portrait of a Lady," the opening of which
runs :

Among the smoke and fog of a December af-
ternoon

You have the scene arrange itself — as it will
seem to do —

With "I have saved this afternoon for you";

And four wax candles in the darkened room.

Four rings of light upon the ceiling overhead ;

An atmosphere of Juliet's tomb.

Prepared for all the things to be said, or left
unsaid.

We have been, let us say. to hear the latest

Pole
Transmit the Preludes, through his hair and

finger-tips.

Conrad Aiken who is technically one of the
most expert of the younger American poets, and
who is a critic rather than a defender of un-
rhymed verse, is particularly happy with this
transition form in his poem "Disenchant-
ment." The most impressive use of this form
is however, that by Ford Madox Hueffer. who
with unconventional rhythms and unexp
rhymes keeps the mind alert to music of extra-
ordinary charm. Here for instance are the
ing lines of that wonderful poem called
"Antwerp":

This is Charing Cross ;

It is one o'clock.

There is still a great cloud, and very little

light :
Immense shafts of shadows over the black

crowd
That hardly whispers aloud. . . .
And now ! . . . . That is another dead

mother,

:\2

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

January. 1919.

And there is another and another and an-
other ....

And little children, all in black,

All with dead faces, waiting in all the waiting-
places,

Wanderiug from the doors of the waiting room

In the dim gloom.

These are the women of Flanders:

They await the lost.

They await the lost that shall never leave the
dock;

They await the lost that shall never again come
by the train

To the embraces of all these women with dead
faces ;

They await the lost who lie dead in trench
and barrier and fosse

In the dark of the night.

This is Charing Cross; it is past one of the
clock ;

There is very little light.

There is so much pain.

And it was for this that they endured this

gloom ;
This October like November,
That August like a hundred thousand hours,
And that September,

A hundred thousand dragging sunlit days
And half October like a thousand years. . .
Oh. poor dears!

In this Chicago anthology of "The New
Poetry," edited by these leaders of the modern
poetry, I find only one poem ascribed to a Can-
adian, and that Canadian does not appear in
the Valhalla erected by Mr. John Garvin in his
encyclopaedic volume of Canadian poets. Bliss
Carman is dismissed by the Chicago editors as
belonging to the nineteenth century — the one
ewe Canadian lamb who apparently counts in
the twentieth century being a lady of the name
of Constance Lindsay Skinner. Born in Brit-
ish Columbia, this lady was brought Tip among
a tribe of Indians and the poems cited are her
interpretation into English of the Indian spirit
and romance. They are "free verse," and to
me are fine verse — even though they do not
rhyme like Mr. Garvin's galaxy of stars. Here
is one called "The Song of the Search":

I descend through the forest alone.
Rose-flushed are the willows, stark and a-

quiver,
In the warm sudden grasp of Spring;
Like a woman when her lover has suddenly,

swiftly taken her.
I hear the secret of the little leaves.
Waiting to be born.
The air is ;i wind of love
From tin- wings of eagles mating — ■
o eagles, my sky is dark with your wings!
The hills and the waters pity
The pine I rees reproach me.
The little moss whispers under my feet,

"Sou of Earth, Brother,

"Why comest thou hither alone?"

Oh, the wolf has his mate on the moun-
tain—
Where art thou. Spring-daughter?
I tremble with love as the reeds by the river,
I burn as the dusk in the red-tented west,
I call thee aloud as the deer calls the doe,
I await thee as hills wait the morning,
I desire thee as eagles the storm ;
I yearn to thy breast as night to the sea,
I claim thee as the silence claims the stars.
0 earth, Earth, great Earth.
Mate of God and mother of me,
Say, where is she, the Bearer of Morning,
My Bringer of Song?
Love in me waits to be born,
Where is She, the woman?

Bliss Carman is discarded by these Chicago
anthologists probably because of his recent
verse, which certainly seems to have lost Ihe
original fire. Yet his unrhymed verses in the
cycle entitled "Sapho" belong to this century,
and are better than many of those print-
ed. Take for instance these two: —

The courtyard of her house is wide
And cool and still when day departs.
Only the rustle of leaves is there

And running water.

And then her mouth, more delicate
Than the frail wood-anemone,
Brushes my cheek, and deeper grow
The purple shadows.

There is a medlar-tree

Growing in front of my lover's house,

And there all day
The wind makes a pleasant sound.

And when the evening comes,
We sit there together in the dusk,

And watch the stars
Appear in the quiet blue.

These two poems are frankly inspired by
Greek spirit and follow Greek rhythms. Yet
they are simple and direct, and belong to to-day
just as much as to two thousand years ago. Had
the later Bliss Carman developed on such sim-
ple forms of expression, Canadian poetry might
well have been the richer.

Although the output of poetry by Canadians
is considerable, so far it has been only minor
poetry — in certain cases of admitted charm and
in many cases of technical excellence. There
is, however, no strong vigorous voice of individ-
ual note whose message arrests attention from
the whole English-speaking world. There is
nothing in Canadian poetry on as impressive
a scale as Canadian landscape or commensur-
ate with Canada's vast forests, great rivers and
tremendous distances.

1919.

CANADIAN BOOK VAN

I w miilcr w hether i li is is nol due in pa rl al
[easl in the shackles of rhyme, to the metrical
conventions which Canadian poets have almosl
without exception blindly accepted. How can

the spirit lit' a half-tamed new continenl I s

pressed in a courtly seventeenth century jingle?

In the case of one of the finesl of the young
Canadian singers, i find that these shackles
chafe Arthur Stringer, who in spite of a re
cent lapse into purely commercial movie melo
drama has given evidence of greal literary abil
ity and is a lyrical poet of no mean order. I
remember how six years ago 1 was thrilled by
a few lines of verse ascribed to him by a Can-
adian paper. They were headed 'One Night in
the North West. ' ' and ran :

When they flagged our train because of a

broken rail,
1 stepped down out of the crowded car.
With its glamour and dust and heat and babel

of broken talk.
I stepped out into the cool, the velvet eool. of

the night.
And felt the balm of the prairie-wind on my

face,
And somewhere I heard the running of water,
I felt the breathing of grass.
And I knew, as I saw the great white stars.
That the world was made for good!

You will find that verse in his volume of
poems entitled "Open Water.*' Now listen to
what Arthur Stringer say-, in his preface to that
book : —

.Modern poetry is remote and insincere, not
because the modern spirit is incapable of feel-
ing, but because what the singer of today has
felt has not been directly and openly express
ed. His apparel has remained mediaeval. He
must still don mail to face Mausers, and wear
chain-armour against machine-guns. The one-
time primitive directness of English was over-
run by such forms as the ballade, the chant
royal, the rondel, the kyriell, the rondeau and
the rondeau redouble, the virelai and the
pantoum, the sestina. the villanelle, and last.
yet by no means least, the sonnet.

The twentieth century poet, singing with
his scrupulously polished vocalisation, usual-
ly finds himself content to re-echo what has
been said before. He is unable to "travel
light"; pioneering with so heavy a burden is
out of the question. Rhyme and metre have
compelled him to sacrifice content for form.
It has left him incapable of what may be call-
ed abandonment.

Unable to express himself adequately in the
conventional tradition of end-rhymes, Arthur
Stringer therefore takes to free verse. In this
mode he is not always successful i1 is not so
easy as it looks — a certain monotony due. 1

thing, i" too greal regularity of line lengths,
weakens the effect of some of his experimi
But on the whole he gives an impression of in-
and sincere emotion which comes refresh-
ingly after so much conventional rhyming. Here
arc two typical verses ;

TIIK NOCTURNE.

Remote, in some dim room.

On this dark April morning suit with

rain,
I hear her pensive touch

Fall aimless en the keys.

And stop, ami pla\ again.

And as the music wakens

And the shadowy house is still,

How all my troubled soul cries out

For tilings I know not of

Ah. keen the quick chords fall.

And weighted with regret.

Fade through the quiet rooms;

Ami warm as April rain

The strange tears fall,

And life in some way seems

Too deep to bear!

AUTUMN.
The thin gold of the sun lies slanting on the

hill;

In the sorrowful greys and muffled violets
of the old orchard

A group of girls are quietly gathering apples.

Through the mingled gloom and green they
scarcely speak at all.

And their broken voices rise and fall un-
utterably sad.

There are no birds,

And the goldenrod is gone.

And a child calls out. far away, across the
autumn twilight;

And the sad grey of the dusk grows slowly
deeper.

And all the world seems old |

Duncan Campbell Scott is another establish-
ed Canadian poet who has experimented with
free verse, though not so extensively or with
such success as Arthur Stringer. Here is his

NEW YEAR'S NIGHT, 1916.

The Earth moans in her sleep
Like an old mother
Whose sons have gone to the war.
Who weeps silently in her heart
Till dreams comfort her.

The Earth tosses

As if she would shake off humanity,

A burden too heavy to be borne.

And free of the pest of intolerable men.

Spin with woods and waters

Joyously in the clear heavens

In the beautiful cool rains.

ing gladly the dumb animals.
Aid sleep when the time conies
Glistening in the remains of sunlight
With marmoreal innocency.

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

January, 1919.

Be comforted, old mother,

Whose sons have gone to the war;

And be assured, 0 Earth,

Of your burden of passionate men,

For* without them who would dream the

dreams
That encompass you with glory?
Who would gather your youth
And store it in the jar of remembrance?
Who would comfort your old heart
With tales told of the heroes?
Who would cover your face with the

cerecloth
All rustling with stars.
Ami mourn in the ashes of sunlight,
Mourn your marmoreal innoceney?

You will find the poem in the volume called
"Lundy's Lane"— and such as it is. it seems
to me the best in the book.

A few months ago Isabel Kcelestone Mackay
sent me a book of her verses called "Between
the Lights" on the flyleaf of which she wrote,
"I think that 'Indian Summer' is almost the
only one that's any good." Now is it a coin-
eidence that -'Indian Summer" is the only poem
in that book in which the rhyme is almost neg-
ligible!

INDIAN SUMMER.

I have strayed from silent places.
Where the days are dreaming always;

And fair summer lies a-dying,
Roses withered on her breast.
I have stolen all her beauty.
All her softness, all her sweetness;
In her robe of golden sunshine
I am drest.

I will breathe a mist about me
Lest you see my face too clearly,
Lest you follow me too boldly
I will silence every song.
Thro' the haze and thro' the silence
You will know that I am passing;
When you break the spell that holds you
I am gone.

In the last few months Mrs. Mackay has come
under the spell of free verse, and although she
has not yet discarded rhyme, she finds an ease
of expression in this newer mode which comes
as a relief after the old hunt for rhymes. Ar-
thur L. Phelps is another Canadian poet who
is very nearly a convert. The most perfect
thing in Marjorie L. C. Pickthall's "The Lamp
of Poor Souls" is her free verse "Improvisation
on a Flute."

Put yourself in the place of the writer whose
soul is burning with a great message. What
would the Songs of David or the Song of Solo-

mon have been if they had had to conform to
the rules of the rhyming dictionary? Job had
many grievances, but the Lord never asked him
to reply only in sonnet form. It is a great
thing for English literature that this "chain

J. M. GIBBON,
Author of "Drums Afar," "Hearts and Faces,

etc.

mail," as Arthur Stringer calls it, is being
laid aside — an admirable costume for a fancy
dress ball but no longer suited for this freer
world. It would be a great thing for Canadian
literature if it kept pace with the times instead
of lingering in the drawing rooms of the early
Victorians. The times are moving. Dynasties
are falling, are being swept away. The whole
world is aflame with a war against the over-
bearing tyranny of military caste. The voice
to-day is the voice of the people, not the voice
of a special caste. So too with poetry, where
metrical rhyming forms are only the shibboleth
of imaginary rank, of imaginary finish and
style, of imaginary caste. They are a fashion
which for seven hundred years has dominated
certain languages of Europe, a fashion, how-
ever, which shows every sign of passing away,
and being relegated like the harpsicord and the
crinoline into the domain of the museum and
of history.

January, 1919.

CANADIAN BOOKM I \

Francis Grierson

By JEAN S. FOLEY

MISS JEAN FOLEY.

AMONG contemporary men of letters no one,
I think, gives so unique an impression as
Francis Grierson. Long ago he proved himself
of the immortal fellowship of the great essay-
ists, at the same time proving himself a master
of the essay in an unprecedented manner. And
prior to this literary manifestation, the world
knew him as a new and remarkable power in
musical improvisation.

In his double capacity of musician and of
writer he owes nothing to any school or any
master or method. To both arts he brought a
singularly instinctive knowledge. "Don't
study," said Auber, the French composer, after
hearing Mr. Grierson play when he was yet a
youth. "Perhaps if you study music you will
lose, or at least spoil, your strange gift." And he
did not study. He let mind and fingers lead
him where they would through the chromatic
tints and tones of instantaneous melody.

Then, after the musical side of his nature had
predominated for many years, he turned at
middle-age to literature. And again in this art
he allowed his "strange gift" free play. lie
improvised in the medium of prose as rhythm-

FRANCIS GRIERSON.

ically, themically, dynamically, as he had im-
provised on the piano. Improvisation is, indeed,
the law of his being, the secret of his power, the
quintessence of his uniqueness. He reminds us
somewhere that "the true authoritative mood is
instinctive; it is not put on as a warrior would
don a coat of mail." And the words strike the
keynote of his own moodal temperament.

All essays have, or should have, the air of be-
ing an impromptu. But the Grierson essay leaves
one with no impression of being cunningly made
to appear as if dashed off under a single im-
pulse. Its immediacy is fundamental. It is
rooted not so much in the pencraft as in the
electric propitiousness of its author's personal-
ity. A personality which, no matter how long
the period of waiting, never utters itself through
the written word until the imperative mood is
reached. It is this sudden flash of irresistible
illumination that constitutes the impromptu
mood of .Mr. Grierson's essays. As an essayist
he is the psychic improvisatore.

The oneness of Mr. Grierson's nature is again
to be found noted in his seclusion. His musical
personality found, and still finds — for he re-

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

January. 1919.

tains to this day his rare gift— its best exp
sion in presence of a small group of sympath
listeners. He rarely pleys in largt' isscm-
blies. And in like manner his literary per
ality reaches out to the appreciative few. His
literary appeal is not a wide one, save in a par-
ticular sphere. He never writes for the "great
public.'" He is a mandarin of letters. I
can imagine nothing more unfortunate happen
ing to Mr. Grierson than to be "acceT-tcd" in
the most popular sense of the term. For his
fine eclecticism in art and thought, while re-
strictive in its appeal, is one of the brightest
facets of his alert and scintillating mind. Nor
is there any tedious Pharisaism in his acute
feeling of selection. It is intuitive and sincere.
It is inspired by an unfailing sense of the econ-
omy of moods and emotions. It is inspired also.
that subtle egotism of the intellect, and p rhaps
chiefly, by a clairvoyant fa 'ulty of piercing
through the temporal to tie' eternal.

It is easy to miss the rare, preponderant spir-
ituality which infuses Mr. Grierson 's aristoc-
racy of intellect and spirit. The word "provin-
cial" is sprinkled through his pages; a certain
ironic //</;//( /(/• tinges his keen discriminal
and the casual reader exclaims: "The superior
hi!" But the diligent eye detects not dis-
dain of tie' lesser, but innate love of the best.
"Character," writes Mr. Grierson, "distinguish-
es one man from another, and gives identity;
true personality distinguishes one man from all
others, and gives originality." He is one con-
scious of possessing that potent personality, and
acutely aware that such original potency spi
from the soul, from man to man. Ilis egotism,
ifore, as Hazlitt said of Cobbett's, is "full
of individuality and lias room for Very little
vanity in it."

It may be that much of Mr. Grierson's at-
traction lies in a singular equality of indepen-
I individuality and imperturbable imperson
ality. The quality and character of his ideas
mpersonal ; their manner and method strik-
ingly personal. Early in life he put from him
the "hypothesis of chance," as bo calls it:
as youth ripened into maturity, more and more
did the law of phenomenal relativity in casual
things become the touchstone of his sympathies
and sentiments. It is this consciousness of un-
conscious correspondence that forms tie- artistic
consistency of his essays. That is the fluid
that binds the whole together, and that under-
lies his critical valuations and his intimate ut-
terances alike. He weighs everything, pi rsons,
principles, practices, in this scale of infinite har-
monious progress. With clairvoyanl ubiquity
he floats and flows with its recondite flux. Yet,
he is never obscurely rged in metaphj

abstractions. It is the concrete seen in the lar-
ger movement of a psyehic progression that is
always his point of departure. He is a practical
mystic: subtle in thought yet substantial, clear
and direct in treatment. In short, his feet are
firmly planted on the earth while his eyes fol-
low the Gleam. '•Sonic writers," he complains.
"inhabit the seventh floor of intellect. We nev-
er walk in to see them, we take a lift and go
up: we. visit them by a process of mechanics
and metaphysics — but we are always glad to
get back, even by sliding down the balustrade."
In his capacity of thinker. Mr. Grierson is not
of this brain-befogging fraternity. He inhabits
the ground floor of philosophic speculation,
even if it has a sub-space of things foreign to
conventional thought and contains, above all,
that ■■(irru'ri boutique" of self-seclusion so dear
to the heart of Montaigne.

.Just here, it may be well to peer for a mo-
ment into the privacy of that "arrien
boutique," for Mr. Grierson charms by a ssrene
spirit of detachment. Singular it is that one
who has sei n so much of the world should be
so iit; nil by it in his tastes and opinions.

i livini v. liter has had a wider European ex-
:iee His personal history reads like a
romance. Horn in England, he was still in his
first year when his parents emigrated to Am-
erica. After a boyhood spent in the Lincoln
country and in St. Louis on the eve of the Civil
War. he returned, in youth, to Europe, and for
twenty or more years travelled at will through
tin principal capitals and towns. His wonder-
ful musical gift won him early fame, and his
alar qualifications of mind brought him
into touch with the makers and shapers of the
world, political, social, artistic and intellectual.
He knew at that period the hardships of a Bo-
hemian existence and the privileges of success.
Yet. throughout this Ion": contact with great
men and women, this nomadic wandering along
the fair-ways and by-ways of life, he took on
no colours unnatural to himself. He drew much
from books, more from human intercourse, but
most of all from deep thinking on original lines.
Everything in his writings relating to this
period of his career, is the full expression of
himself in relation to these things. When we
read his "Parisian Portraits." for instance, in
which lie gives us vignettes of Mallarme, Ver-
laine, Princess Helene Racowitza, Pauline
Viardot-Garcia, Princess Bonaparte Ratazzi,
and others famous in art and society
with whom he talked, and of whose hos-
pitality he partoolc at that time, we observe
that it is the humanist close to the coil of human
ity yet persisting in his own being, who studies
these men and women of genius. From the first

January, 1919.

CANADIAN BOOK U.\.\

he seems in have had a mind thai moved in
singular isolation, under all circumstances, in
whatever company. Some men are born :

Montaigne was < of these; Francis Grierson

is another. He moves always with the cycle
of his own experiences.

I>ut, to remain with the impression I'm' the
seclusion which his work exhales is traceable
solely to an instinct of self-dependence, would
be a grave mistake. H derives Eundamenl
from that amalgam of possession of one's self
and of a timeless mind which moves freely
through time that has already been noted as his
■animal characteristics. Individual, and with
a vigour and boldness of verdict which surprises
uh?le t charms, Mr. Grierson is absolute iu his
■ wn sphere of experiene? and intui^on. But
the bed-rock of his absolutism is the law of pro-
gressive psychic harmony which, as we have
seen, is the central sun of his thought from
which all rays radiate. Witness the following
extract from an essay on "The Psychic Power
of Genius":

\
When Walter Savage Landor said: "Give
me ten competent minds as readers," he knew
that the dynamic force of his intellect would
harmonize with the latent or active forces of
ten competent minds unknown to him, and so
act and react on others. He knew that the
psychic waves evolved in his brain would
flow on through others, fulfilling the intended
mission of an inexorable and immutable law."

It is the recognition of an "intended mis-
sion" in the law of intellect that underlies his
own intellectual absolutism. We feel, when
reading him, that we are in the company of one
who has' come to terms with a clear, strong vision
of life evoked from personal knowledge, yet who
is. at the same time, acutely aware of its alli-
ance with the ordered onflow of intuitive
energy. Hence, he is detached even from his
own detached self-possession, since his main view-
point is that of a timeless movement from which
the element of chance has been eliminated.

Yet, if he is somewhat of a Determinist, he is
not a facile optimist. Moreover, his quietude
is marked by no creed of quietism. He is em-
phatic about the imperative quality of the orig-
inal mind, maintaining that he who is absolute
in his own sphere of intuition "will no more
think of tempering his speech with smiles, or
his writings with suave apology, than a general
would think of asking a traitor's pardon before
having him executed." And he will brook no
idea of persons of talent being "instruments"
of higher powers, his claim being that "the high-
er powers are always the powers of the individ-
ual." Like Bergson, he fuses individual energy
and the vital push of life's harmonious advance

in one in vement. Perhaps il pi

tome of his idea of the personal and the psychi
cally mathematical, as well as of the practical
nature of his mysticism, is to be round in this
passage :

Everything in the world of intellect and
inspiration is produced by natural means.
Then- is no visible line between the material
and the spiritual, human consciousness bi
only the last and highesl i le of the physi-
cal; for the laws of mind harmonize with

those of all the forces know n in matter.
What we call psychical manifestations are 1 1 i 1 1
distinct from other manifestations of natural
law, and we have ceased to talk about the
"super-natural," science having rendered the
word meaningless.

Prom such a passage one L'ets a glimpse of
that sanity and proportion which characterise all
the utterances of this man of rare spiritual vi-
sion. And to complete the picture of his unique
universality, we have his spirited confession
that "we shall not reach finality until the hist
flicker of light goes out on the shores of silence
and eternity."

These generalisations may perhaps reveal
something of the point of view which runs
through Mr. Grierson 's work as a whole. But
they must not be allowed to overflow my sp
and it is time to take a closer survey of his
essential qualities and characteristics.

Mr. Grierson is an essayist in a new manner.
His style is aphoristic to a degree unprecedented
in the annals of the English essay. He has an
unusual power of prismatic focussing in trench-
ant phrases. There is little sequential flow in
his essays; the thought, which is strong, original
and individual, comes in swift flashes of im-
promptu illumination. It leaps forward, it
recoils, with bewildering movement. Almost
every sentence is an entity in itself, summing
up a whole mental position. Yet. the cohesive
power remains unimpaired, for in each essay
the barbs of thought of which it is composed are
radiations of a single, swift, vibrating mood;
while their vivid, immediate manner is allied to
a rhythmic sense which tones and shades the
lightning flash of epigram into a consecutive
unity of haunting, measured mush'. He is
acute, but never angular. His prose reminds one
of Pater's in its oracular impression, although
it exhibits a power of condensing language for-
eign to the long-paragraphed style of the older
writer. And his essay-form is peculiarly hi!
own, for he has been the first to combine in
perfect unison the vigorous spring of the aphor-
ism proper and the subtle, quiet movement of
the traditional essay. His magical and penetra-
tive aphorisms arc replete with a philosophic.

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

January, 1919.

force which opens a door to many moral vistas.
Moreover, most of them are unlikely to tease
posterity with the note of their hour, since they
are steeped in that universal perspicuity which
traverses the ages.

Mr. Grierson first appeared in print in the
year 1882, when he published "Miscellaneous
Discourses," a series of lectures which he had
delivered in London 'in 1880, and whose titles,
"Militarism in Germany," "The Influence of
Modern Literature from a Spiritual Stand-
point," revealed a "modern" alive to the ques-
tions of the hour. But his first genuine literary
adventure was an opuscule of aphorisms and
short essays, written in French, and entitled
"La Eevolti Idealiste." The modest brochure
was published in 1889. Mr. Grierson was liv-
ing in Paris at the time, where the air was then
tremulous with the first stirrings of an idealis-
tic reaction. The spirit of Positivism was wan-
ing; Naturalism was in its death-throes; men
were turning against the elimination of meta-
pbysics from philosophy, of the faculty of won-
der from life. Already, Zola was perturbed by
the sound of voices crying in the midst of the
triumphant march of exact knowledge, "Assez
de verite, donnez-nous de la chimin." Already,
a number of young writers, calling themselves
Symbolists, were responding to the cry with a
literature drenched in the mystic vapours of
the unknowable. But the movement was still
awaiting an articulate voice when "La Revolte
Idealiste" appeared, suggesting tentatively but
in prophetic accents, the direction of its goal.
The result was startling but abiding. Within
a few weeks after the publication of the little
book, the author was hailed by fraternal spirits
in many lands as a prophet of the new mystical
phase then groping its way into philosophy and
literature.

To this movement of Modern Mysticism,
Francis Grierson undoubtedly belongs. He was
a herald of its dawn ; he is still engaged in put-
ting his index finger on the points of its pro-
gress. He has a special mysticism of his own,
if you will, evoked by the singular seer-like
quality of his nature. But he is of the com-
pany of Maeterlinck and Bergson, and of the
increasing number of writers whom we may call
spiritual emancipators. That is to say, he is
of that band of modern mystics who have not
laid rude hands on the work of the rationalist,
emancipators of an age that is spent, but have
extended their great mental bequest into the re-
gion of the unseen.

Mr. Grierson may best be described as an
alert and original advocate of the "third king-
dom." He sees the ultimate uprising out of the
fusion of intellect and feeling, of reason and in-

tuition, of science and soul, of a psycho-artis-
tic and psycho-mental faculty capable of get-
ting nearer to life's meaning and its expression
in form than anything that has gone before. In
his later volumes of essays, "Modern Mysti-
cism," "The Celtic Temperament," "The Hu-
mour of the Underman," where his philosophy
of life is intimidated with a rare sensitiveness
of expression, this idea flashes forth at unex-
pected angles from the various themes. He may
be discussing "Beauty in Nature," or letting
his probing irony run over the subject of
"Parsifalitis," but below the surface is the
current of th's conviction.

"La Rcvoltr I dial hie" revealed Mr. Grier-
son at the outset as a watcher on the tower ; and
perhaps one of the principal ingredients of that
marked flavour of author which pervades all
his writings, is a strange clairvoyance. His seer-
like faculty is most pronounced in his "Invin-
cible Alliance," where the predictive sentences
fad one after the other like the stroke of an elec-
tric bolt. The unity of the Anglo-American
people, the beginning of "a reign of affairs, the
like of which the world has never seen," an
"agnostic agony," a new era which "will be a
forcing time not only for grains, but for in-
dividuals"— these are some of the predictions
of this volume, which was published in the
spring of 1913 ; predictions which the war has
brought within bounds of fulfilment. Once
again, as in 1889, Mr. Grierson is here a pro-
phetic force, the man who reasons from reality to
reality with incisive intuitional discernment.

I said at the beginning that Mr. Grierson
never writes for the "great public." But there
is always an exception to prove every rule ; and
I must now qualify that statement, for his
latest volume of essays. "Illusions and Reali-
ties of the War," is nearer to a general liter-
ary appeal than anything he has yet written.
The eclectic only crosses the pages of this book
at rare intervals. It is a direct and drastic ut-
terance of a drastic time, penned by one who is
forever aware of the vitality of language. Mr.
Grierson has the power, when dealing with a
period of history, of producing its internal at-
mosphere by a subtle affinity of style. His
"Valley of Shadows" conjures up the spiritual
and intellectual atmosphere of the Illinois
prairie in the days preceding the Civil War;
and the feat is accomplished not only by draw-
ing the simple, native characters with sharp,
impressive strokes, but by a simplicity and lan-
guid leisureliness of diction which exhales the
tranquility of primitive habits and thought. The
main theme of the "Parisian Portraits" is the
passing of Napoleon and the Second Empire;
and the intellectual atmosphere of the dying

January, 1919.

CANADIAN i:ooi\)l.\S

:•■

period is again portrayed no1 alone by clear,
intimate pictures of its greal personalities, bu1
by a piquancy and finesse in the mode of ex-
pression which is affianced to the very essence
of their passing salons. And now again, when
he would summon up the internal atmosphere
of the present moment of "drastic material ac-
tion" he adopts a manner in consonance with it
which makes his hook the very embodiment of its
intangibility. This, we suspect, rather than the
abandonment of the combination of acuteness
of intellectual faculty and delicate literary ex-
pression which marks his earlier essays, is the
secret of the more conventional flavour of " Il-
lusions and Realities ef the War." The sub-
ject is less exclusive than those of his former
volumes; the style is less exclusive; and it is
well, for this is a book that should be in the
hands of all those who would learn something
forcible and convincing about that modern
psychology which the author claims is playing
"the dominant role" in the war.

In the essay "An Era of Surprises," are
these words: "What makes the present so mar-
vellous is the train of surprises that is passing
at express speed while only a few observers get
a clear view of the panorama of events seen
from the window7." The batch of essays with
which he presents us in "Illusions and Reali-
ties of the War" is the view which has passed
under his own keen, inspecting gaze. And he
puts his index finger on the true and the false
in the panorama of events. He writes scath-
ngly of "Prussian Provincialism," and warn-
mgly on "The New Teutonic Pcychology. "
With devastating frankness he diagnoses the
irony of "The Ironic Iron Crosses," and an-

swers convincingly the question, "Does War
Change Human Nature'.'" ,\ .... , to be ex

pected, prop] y is also lodged in Ids pen. ami

in "The Awakening" and "The Great Recon
struetion" we gel glimpses of the future. And
the constructive consistency of this volume is
so satisfying. It has its own clear point of
view. Its contents, though dealing with sub-
jects as diverse as Anglo-American Unity and
The Rag-Time Rage, are all of a piece. Taken
as a whole these penetrative essays achieve their
aim, and give a clear and acute picture of the
internal atmosphere of the political, social, and
spiritual changes taking place in the stress and
agony of the war.

The charge of too much interpretation and
too little criticism may be laid against this eon
sideration of Francis Grierson and his work.
But the exegctical method has been purposely
adopted, for since exegesis is far more personal
than criticism it serves better to disengage from
an author's literary output the personality lurk
ing in the background. And Grierson 's books
have that precious quality of personality to a
superlative degree. He is a modern Montaigne,
writing always within the bounds of his owii
temperament and with the objective authority
of one who has thought things out for himself
His mind is of the generating order rather than
the creative. He is creative in his memorable
expressions and in the transmittance of tem-
peramental impression rather than new thought.
This is why one must view him exegetically.
Moreover, if I recommend him without compro-
mise it is in the hope of adding still further
to the empire of one who regards literature as
an addition to life.

Ill

CANADIAN BOOKMAN January, 1919.

Potted Prejudices

By WARWICK CHIPMAN

I HAVE applied this title to the sayings of
a friend of mine, much given to epigram
and irony. He was a great student of the mas-
ters in those styles, and cherished many a choice
example, always increasing his store. I re-
member how he would quote from Herodotus
the tale of Leander swimming across the Hel-
lespont to Hero and back again, and how he
prized its conclusion :—" So they say who tell
the tale, but if yon ask me, I should say that
he went in a boat."

Or he would take from Clarendon the pic-
ture of the presbyters around the sick-bed of
Cromwell, telling- God Almighty what great
things the patient had done for Him, and how
much more need God still had of his services.
From old Thomas Fuller he quoted still more
largely, as, for example, that "quirking" com-
ment: "Such is the charity of the Jesuits that
they never owe any man any ill-will, making
present payment thereof." And you may lie
sure that Heinrich Heine, that Prometheus of
all wit, was to him an inexhaustible tonic in
a world of compromise and cant.

His own adventures of the tongue were brief
and mainly double-edged. They were gaunt and
spare and never showy. Paradox he despised,
defining it as platitude standing on its head.
He had, indeed, a passion for defining. He call-
ed it putting salt on birds' tails. He despaired
of ever touching the bird. The besl of defini-
tions, he thought, was after all nothing but a
prejudice. Perhaps it was the more inform-
ing just on that account. He shook his head
over the attempts of scientists to concoct defini-
tions so durable that they would force their
meaning upon some curious man from Mars who
might one day visit the ruins of this alien world.
Take, for instance, this of the Standi) I'd Metre:
"A piece of metal whose length, at 0° centi-
grade is 1,553,164 times the wave length of the
red line of the spectrum of cadmium, when the
latter is observed in dry air at a temperature of
15 on the ordinary hydrogen scale at a pres-
sure of 664 millimetres of mercury at 0 centi-
grade."

What would the Martian know of centigrade,
of mercury, of the ordinary hydrogen scale?
Prejudice and all, or perhaps because of the
prejudice, he, if a psychologist, might get more
meaning from my friend's definition of the

Metric System as a damnable contrivance to
turn Anglo-Saxondom into a collection of ciph-
ers.

You perceive that my friend has a bit of a
temper and a certain bias against science. It
leads him to say of

A GUINEA-PIG— That it is a small labor-
atory pet, supposed to react like a tiger
to experiments that are never made in
the jungle :

and to gibe at

AN EXPERIMENT— As an attempt to
know nature by means that nature does
not know:

He has wearied of the facile conclusions up-
on heredity drawn by those whose chief occu-
pation is to promote bigamy among sweetpeas,
and has had the temerity to remark, apropos of

MENDEL'S LAW— That barring bees, and
given a sufficient number of genera-
tions; you can generally find what you
are looking for :

He is even more captious in describing

EUGENICS — As pessimism doing its best;
or how to improve everybody when
you think that nobody can be im-
proved:

My friend had at one time some small experi-
ence of law. Perhaps he was waiting an uncon-
scionable while for the distribution of an in-
heritance, which will account for this somewhat
acid definition of

AN EXECUTOR — As one who is always in
Europe :

He must, too. have been involved in a trial it-
self, for he remarks that

AN EXPERT WITNESS— Is one whom it
costs a considerable sum to contradict:

It was his boast that in his short day. he had
done a useful amount of public service, for he
sums up

A COMMITTEE— As talk: baulk: walk-
There ran through many of his remarks a

gentle irony of scepticism, as when he says of

19.

C I \ l/'/ I A BOOH l/.I.V

OMNIPOTENCE Thai i| is the power to
avoid the final teal of one's limitations.

It is in a somewhal sterner mood thai he

A HYPOCRITE (in,, whose preaching is

superior to my practice.

Apparently he means qui accuse, s'excuse. Iii a

similar spirit he used to confess, with some heat

ing of the breast, thai

A BORE — Is anybody who prevents from
being a bore.

His outward life was plain ami strict, a
fitted so universal a critic; but a due regard for

others as well as his sense of humour kept him
from extremes.

SACKCLOTH -He said, is a rough ma-
terial likely to scratch more hacks than
the wearer's. Ami so he avoided it.

Indeed, for all his practice, emotionally he
leaned towards Epicureanism. Therefore, he
praised happiness as more than you need to have
for what you do not need to do.

But he could never have been a sybarite. His
uncomfortable sense of responsibility was too
strong. When asked, for instance, of "Women's
Rights, lie sternly answered, ".Men's Duties,'
Freedom to him was something given rather
than something- got. He knew his Kant, and
rang the changes on that magnificent motto: —
"Act so that the maxim of thy spirit may he
capable of being a universal law."

He used this as the test of all actions. Crimes.
he said accordingly, are what nobody could
commit if everybody committed them.

I should tell you, if you have not already
guessed it. that he was a bachelor: perhaps, in-
deed, too critical to be tamed to domestic uses.

"MARRIAGES" — He once remarked, "are
made in Heaven. I will wait till I get
there."

And again — "If the grande passion is always a
solo, who wants the duets?"

Perhaps there was a special reason for his
unattached condition.

CONSTANCY— I have heard him aver, is
an authorized impertinence.

Was this bitterness, or only a playful perver-
sion of logic? as thus: — "An authorized con-
stancy is not impertinent. An unauthorized con-
stancy must be impertinent." Was this a divid-
ed heart, or only, as the logicious say. an un-
distributed middle ?

And yet there must have been some suscep-
tibility in him, or he would never have paid
his homage to beauty as — the presence of an ex-
ceptional quantity of something that is not
there. And you may be quite sure that there
was a flame somewhere down in him. for it was
he who said of

TRAGEDY Thai it v. indifferei

io cine's indiffen

This is the word of one who would rather perish
than stand aloof, lie put it more lightly: "It is
onlj the ineffectual angel that never singes his
wings.

I would not have you think my friend a cynic.
He had indeed laughed at cynicism as "Adam's

its first collar," and defii
critic s.,i ,,!' lit',- by one who has not lived."
He has said of

DEMOCRACY 'I iiat ii wis government of

the vulgar, by the vulgar, for the vulgar;

W That it was the knowledge of

how to i e-arrange the pasl of what to
do when you can no longer do it :

HOPE- That it is Faith with her clothes

stolen :

Yet he had a sound belief of his own, which
entitled him to declare of

PRAGMATISM That it is a broad cr I

that is quite satisfactory to these only
w hose creed is still broader

It was. in fact, his very sense of irony that
made him endlessly impatient of so raw and fu-
tile a thing as cynicism: and this sense of irony
was not restricted to comment. He found the
world itself saturated with irony. He saw
again and again in operation a merciless logic
of contrariness that almost overawed him as he
bowed before its master-pi s. He was un-
moved when noting that the Cods make instru-
ments of our pleasant vices wherewith to scourge
us. For him the play was far more pointed when
he perceived that men may be betrayed by what
is fine within. The thing that might have been,
frustrated by the effort to attain it: the ful-
fillment of half a hope murdering the hope it-
self: his armour stifling the warrior: his devo-
tion defeating the lover; the heart of the priest
made ashes by the heat of his prayer; — these
for him were the dramas the Cods could attend
when all the sad wit of men had been reduced to
silence.

And when he asked himself by what mood
men should meet these bitter humours, the very
irony he summoned up was a confession of baf-
flement. Resignation, he answered, is a dose
that fits us for more of the same. The meek in-
herit the earth — and like worms can never be
rid of that dusty inheritance.

And yet, and over all. he was an optimist.
The last thing I ever heard him say. was the
paraphrase of history as "looking at a star in
a well." This implied a certain confidence in
humanity as much as in the Heavens. A month
later the war splashed like a stone into his well.
and he went out to die for his star.

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

January, 1919.

Revery of a Bookish Librarian

By GEORGE H. LOCKE

IT is a sign of youth to desire knowledge, to
long to know of the great world, to iden-
tify oneself with adventure and to project
oneself into other existences. Some people
retain that youthful spirit, and, even to what
is external old age, preserve that freshness of
view, that many sidedness of interest and that
enthusiasm which is so attractive to all their
friends. They have a background in life, a
mental background, that is so varied and
adaptable as to accommodate itself and seem
in some degree suitable to almost every scene
or experience of daily life.

I suppose there is no one without a mental
background, and there are probably no two
persons with exactly the same mental back-
ground. I wish that some artists could realize
this truth. Our mental backgrounds are con-
ditioned by our experiences in life, and there-
fore are ever changing. We sometimes speak
of the mental background as our "education,"
and too often this is looked upon as a state in-
stead of a process. We are being changed
in our attitude or being influenced by every
thing we meet. Therefore, we can understand
those who claim that our environment is all
important in our lives.

If that environment is unpleasant or monot-
onous— and sometimes these terms are inter-
changeable— we long for a life and experi-
ences which take us away from our surround-
ings. These we find in the association of peo-
ple whose experiences have been collected by
some one who has given them form and pro-
portion so' that we can share that life and en-
joy it with them. This may take the form of
a drama with actors upon a stage, or it may
be pictured in book form. In either case it is
successfully done when without effort or awk-
wardness we mingle freely with our new ac-
quaintances. We are not interested — indeed
we cannot be — in a picture of life all the de-
tails of which are familiar to us ; nor again
in a picture of life in which none of the de-
tails are familiar. Just as in a company we
need some familiar acquaintances to make the
company congenial, but we wish also to meet
some different persons, to make some new ac-
quaintances, so that the experience will bring
pleasure. This occurs to me when I hear
people say that they wonder why Canadians
do not road more Canadian books, and in-

deed they go' so far as to say that they think
a novel about Toronto would be of intense in-
terest. I can think of nothing which to me
would likely be duller.

I read that I may enlarge my acquaintance,
and I have this great advantage in using
books for this enlargement. I have the pleas-
ure of choosing the persons with whom I can
associate. The people who live in books are
just as real and many times vastly more in-
teresting than the people who live in our cit-
ies or towns and whose oral production is the
sign of their existence.

Then again those whom one meets every
day are the shadows of the universal types
with whom one is acquainted in the great
chronicles of life in the books. I often see
Pecksniff on King Street, Micawber on Vic-
toria Street, Jingle drops into the Club some-
times, the Baxters of the immortal "Seven-
teen" live near me and I often see Leacock's
Dean Drone on Avenue Road.

In other words, I read that I may under-
stand life better and make friendships — that
most desirable of all earthly things. Friends
are the greatest asset in the world — if you
don't use them — and the friends in books are
not usable but merely enjoyable and inspiring.
And when two of us meet who have read the
same book with pleasure we take a keen de-
light in talking of "our mutual friends"
for they are his as well as mine, and often he
and I understand each other better because of
our mutual friends.

Indeed, we who are older and getting older
ought to read, I suppose, like boys and girls
who believe in the reality of the characters de-
scribed, who live the lives of those characters,
especially those who do something, conquer
somebody or something, and who dislike so
much the disillusionment indulged in by some
older person who takes the joy out of life by
saying that "it is only a story and never hap-
pened."

The practical question back of all this is the
lack of opportunity with so many to become
acquainted with these desirable persons. In
many places there are but few books, and in
many other places there are no persons to
introduce us to these desirable and interesting
books. The loneliest place in the world is a
big city. One reason is that there are so many

January, L919.

CANADIAN BOOK l/.i.\

possibilities Eor pleasure if one could 011I3 be

introduced to One or two, and thus effect an

entrance. Even so in the big world of books

where eaeli year we have so many books de-
siring to be received into good book society
where there will be immortality. Some few
are desirable, many more are too ordinary to
be of more than passing interest, and still
others are only flashy imitations.

A public library is the great world of books
where only the vieious and needlessly vulgar
are excluded. The ordinary rubs shoulders
with the "high-brow" and one is sure in such
a cosmopolitan crowd to find some of his
. friends. It may have the defect of its virtues,
however, in that its organization has so far
found difficulty in doing more than merely
furnishing the place where one may meet the
people in the books. The ideal, which would
be reached quicker if the financial means were
provided, is that there be a mediator or intro-
ducer between the visitor or newcomer and
the "inhabitants" of the shelves. The re-
viewer in the old time journals used to do
something towards that end, but he is almost
extinct. Certainly his imitator in our daily
press is but a forty-ninth cousin so far as in-
tellectual relationship is concerned, and he
smacks too often of the business and the ad-
vertising pages.

My greatest pleasure is to introduce some
person of my acquaintance to some of my
"book-fellows," and when I find a chap, say
like Archibald Marshall, who takes me away
from my surroundings and introduces me to a
lot of charming people in a different environ-
ment, I cannot rest until I tell some person of
the pleasant company in which I spent last
evening. He says, "What were they like?"
and I tell him just enough to interest him
and not enough to satisfy him.

I recognize that some persons would not be
at home in their company, and therefore I
must exercise discretion. Not long ago I met
two men. one of whom asked me if I had read
anything very interesting lately. I recom-
mended a book which contained characters
which I thought would interest him. Not long
afterwards I met his companion, and he up-
braided me with poor judgment, for he had
procured the book I had recommended, and
had found it deadly dull. My answer was
that I was not at all surprised. If he would
recall the circumstances, he would remember
that I had not recommended the book to him,
but to his companion.

I am supposed to know something of circu-

lation of books, as the chief Librarian of the
largest library system in our country, and
more and more I am convinced that there are

thousands id' persons Longing to break into
book fellowship, hut there are not those who
can and will introduce them; so that they will
enjoy the Mieiety. I try it every year with

some s| ial author, anil so far with very grati

fying resulta

Out of the Storm

FIERCE threatenings stand in the sky to-
night,
Fear uncouth in the sky —
Garner 0 morn thy sovran light
For my love's sleep!

Waters of drowning beat on my brain,

Flung sheer out of the sky —
Soft as the hum of a fairy rain ^

Soothe my love's sleep!

Sweep the clouds out of the sky, dread wind,

Dead weight out of the sky —
With hushed feet thread the lanes star-lined

Of my love's sleep

Sword of God ! hast reft me of sight

Flashing dire from the sky?
Strike if thou must with merciful might

Through my love's sleep!

All the night's wrath have I watched and live,

Deepen 'ng wrath in the sky — •
Age-loved Night ! some mother-touch give

To my love's sleep!

At last a wan light, a tremor of death,

Fainting flush in the sky —
Die away painless, fluttering breath,

In my love 's sleep !

Believe it is hope that is born, mad brain —

God's face dim in the sky!
Break 0 dawn ! with aureoled pain

Arch my love's sleep!

By day it seems such a little thing —

Night and a haunted sky;
But Death or Life it bore on its wing

To my love's sleep.

J. A. Dale.

CANADIAN BOO K V. 1 N

-January, 191!).

Clio in Canada, 1918

By W. S. WALLACE

HISTORICAL studies in Canada have always
been vigorous. Canadians have taken an
interest in their country's past that has
been in some respects exceptional. Since the
outbreak of the Great War, however, this inter-
est has somewhat waned. The all-absorbing de-
mands of the present, the enlistment in the army
of some of the younger historians, the high cost
of printing and paper — all these have combined
to produce a slump in the output of Canadian
historical literature. During 1918 this slum
has been especially marked. It is significant
that during 1918 the Champlain Society, which
for many years now has issued annually one or
two volumes of first-class importance for Can-
adian history, has ceased publication for the
time being; and even the veteran "Review of
Historical Publications Relating to Canada,"
which has attained its twenty-first birthday,
has contented itself this year with issuing
merely an index of previous volumes.

The year, however, has not been barren. In
the sphere of polities and government, Mr. Ed-
ward Porritt has published his "Evolution of
the Dominion of Canada." An aftermath of the
harvest of books published in 1917, celebrating
the fiftieth year of Confederation, has appeared
in the Abbe Groulx's "La Confederation Can-
adiennr." and in Mr. Gosnell's " Fifty Years of
Confederation," a collection of newspaper
sketches. Two books of a narrower appeal are
Professor W. P. M. Kennedy's "Documents of
the Canadian Constitution," and Professor Le-
froy's "A Short Treatise on Canadian Consti-
tutional Law," which contains an admirable
historical introduction by Professor Kennedy.
In the field of general history, a book of con-
siderable importance is the Rev. R. G. MacBeth 's
"The Romance of Western Canada"; and two
books of unusual iuterest just issued are Pro-
fessor George M. Wrong's "The Conquest of
New France," and Professor W. B. Munro's
"Crusaders of New France." Unfortunately,
these last two books are published in a series of
fifty volumes, entitled "The Chronicles of Am-
erica," published by the Yale University Press,
and cannot be procured except in the set. Last-
ly, there are the books about the war. The third
volume of "Canada in Flanders," which has
been written by Major Charles G. D. Roberts, is
now published; a most informing pamphlet,
entitled "Canada's War Effort, 1914-1918,"
has been issued by the Director of Public In-
formation at Ottawa ; and a rapidly growing
list of books embodying the experiences of re-
turned Canadian soldiers, repatriated prisoners,
and war correspondents has seen the light. These
books are the raw material of history; but per-
haps they do not fall strictly within the spher •
of this survey.

The most important of these books is perhaps
Mr. Porritt'- "Evolution of the Dominion of

Canada,"* more on account of the possi-
r.ilities latent in it than on account of wnai ii
actually achieves. It is not an easy book to re-
view, because oue cannot be quite certain of the
goal which the author has set before him. I4"
his aim was to write a handbook of Canadian
Government, he has included in his pages much
more than was necessary, if indeed books like
Lord Bryce's "The American Commonwealth"
or President Lowell's "The Government of
England" may be taken as criteria. A good
deal of the book, for instance, is taken up with
a historical sketch of Canadian development.
If, on the other hand, Mr. Porritt 's object was
to write a review of Canadian constitutional his-
tory, his arrow has fallen short of the mark.
With him, Canadian constitutional history be-
gins, for some occult reason, at 1783. He ig-
nores those years pregnant with fate which fo'-
lowed the conquest of Canada by the British;
and he omits all mention of the French period,
though a knowledge of that period is necessary
to a proper understanding of the Province of
Quebec. One is uncertain, too, whether the
book was intended for popular use, or for the
use of students. If it was intended for the man
on the street, Mr. Porritt might well have omit-
ted the foot-notes with which his pages are en-
cumbered; if it was intended for the student,
his references should have been, not to second-
ary authorities, but to the sources of Canadian
history. This feature of his work is indeed a
serious blemish. When one finds him leaning
on secondary authorities like Miss Weaver's "A
Canadian History" or the books published in
the popular "Chronicles of Canada" series,
one begins to have doubts about his method of
writing history. The day is past when tertiary
authorities are deserving of respect.

Mr. Porritt is not thoroughly familiar with
Canadian history. It may be doubted whether
Macaulay's schoolboy exists in Canadian schools
to-day ; but if he did, he at any rate would know
better than to credit Mackenzie and Papiueau,
as Mr. Porritt does (p. 93), with having advo-
cated responsible government in Canada before
1837. This error, however, is pardonable be-
side the statements that "military rule" ex-
isted in Canada from 1763 to 1774 (p. 66), and
that Prince Edward Island and British Colum-
bia "came under the terms of the British North
America Act" (p. 211). These are "howlers"
worthy of being included in a schoolmaster's
collection. And yet, despite these and many
other mistakes, the book is not without a dis-
tinct value. The chapters dealing with the gov-
ernment of Canada will not be read by any Can-
adian, no matter how learned in the law and

•"Evolution of the Dominion of Canada: Its Gov-
ernment riiel Its Politics.'' Bv Edward Porritt, New
York: World Book Company." 1918. Pp. xix, 540.

January, 1919.

CANADIAN BOOR M AS

custom of the constitution, without interest and
profit. Ii often happens thai an outside ob
er will see things in a better perspective than
those inside. Mr. Poi a Englishman li\

ing in tlic d tes, and the unusual angle

from which he writes gives his sketch of Can
iuliaii political institutions a freshness and vivid
uess uo1 found certainly in sir John !■
dot's "How Canada is Governed" or in .Miss
Agnes Laut's •■The Canadian Commonwealth,"
the only other two books which attempt to cover
the same ground. If .Air. Porritt had confined
himself to the present, and had left the pasl
severely alone, his hook would have been on a
different plane.

The hooks on Confederation by the Abbe
Groulx and by Mr new.

and do not require more than mention. Nor
dues Professor Kennedy's "Documents of the
Canadian Constitution" need an extended no-
tice. It is intended primarily for students of
Canadian constitutional history, to whom it
should be a boon, owing to tl ha1 other

source-books of Canadian constitutional history
are out of print. Prom the standpoint of the
layman, it is a pity that Professor Kennedy has
not included in his book a greater number of
documents illustrating the history of the period
since 1867. The book then would have had great
value as a work of reference. But in selecting
documents for a source-book of this sort, it is
probable that no two people would agree com-
pletely ; and it would be ungracious not to con-
fess that Professor Kennedy has carried out a
very necessary and admirable task in a way that
leaves few loopholes for criticism.

"The Romance of Western Canada "t is a
book intended to be read by him who runs. It
is a plain, unvarnished, but interesting account
of the history of the Canadian West. As Sir
John Willison points out in his "Foreword," it
is vital that the people of Eastern Canada
should know the history of the West: and the
book should be a source of profit to them, as
well as to the people of the West, for whom it
was doubtli 3S primarily written. It is a story
that is not lacking in picturesque elements. The
adventures of the early explorers and fur-trad-
ers, the struggle between the Hudson's Bay men
and the Nor 'westers, the founding of the vision-
ary Selkirk colony on the Red River, the Kiel
rebellions, even the mushroom like growth of
the West within the last generation — all these
are instinct with drama and romance. Cana-
dians do not perhaps always realize how for-
tunate they are in the possession of a history
second to none in those qualities which go to
the making of a striking and picturesque narra-
tive.

For writing the history of the West. Mr. Mae-
Beth has unusual qualifications. A son of the
Red River colony, he has lived through much

♦"Documents of the Canadian Constitution. 1759-
1915." Selected ami Edited by W. P. M. Kennedy.
Toronto: Oxford University Press. 1918. Pp. xxxn,
707.

that he describes. His I k has therefore some

what the character of that of an eye « iti
Ten portraits of important figures in western
history, such as Riel and Schultz, Norqnay and
Greenway, drawn from life, give his |
iginal value. At the same time, he has not neg-
lected the printed materials already avail
for the history of the West. His pages are not

indeed burden, d. as are those of Mr. I'orritt.

with fool notes and bibliographical references;
but every paragraph betrays a long and fami-
liar knowledge of his subject. In a book which
purports to survey the history of the v
West, it may perhaps be objected that Mr. Mac-
Beth has devoted undue spi to the history of

the Red River colony, the importance of wl

in western history may easily 1 sagger

But this is natural and pardonable in a son of
the colony. In view of the cursory character
of some parts of the book, one might wish that
Mr. MacBeth had limited himself to those pass-
ages in western history of which he has had per-
sonal knowledge ; but in that case we should
have lost the advantages of having a general
survey. And without doubt the advantages of
having a popular history of Western Canada
written to some extent at first hand, with the
vivid and veracious accent which such a char-
acter gives it. arc not be despised, especially
when it is written also with the rare charity and
impartiality which Mr. MacBeth everywhere dis-
plays. To the general reader "The Romance of
Western Canada'' may be commended without
reserve: and even the professional historian will
not find it without value.

Detailed reference to the books on New
France by Professor Wrong and Professor
Munro may well be omitted here until the en-
tire series of "The Chronicles of America" is
published, when Professor Skelton's '"The Can-
adian Dominion," to be included in the same
series, may also be reviewed. The general char-
acter of these books may be indicated by saying
that they are similar in type to "The Chronicles
of Canada" published several years ago. They
aim at telling the story, in a manner at once
popular and scholarly, of some one phase of
North American history.

In the third volume of "Canada in Flan-
ders"* Lord Beaverbrook has handed over his
pen to Major Charles G. D. Roberts. Major
Roberts tells the story of the Canadian Corps
from the arrival of the Fourth Canadian Divi-
sion in France in August. 1016, to the end of
the fighting on the Somme in the late autumn of
that year. During this period Major Roberts
was himself with the Canadian Corps: and he
has thus been able to draw, not only on the
splendid collection of historical material which
the Canadian Record Office has been making,
but also on his personal observation. The book
suffers, as do its predecessors, from the obvious
limitations under which it has been written;
indeed, the remarkable thing is that it has been
possible to write it at all. Canada is the only

t"Th£ Romance of Western Canada." by B. G.
MacBeth. Toronto: "William Brlggs. 191*. Pp. xii,
209. $1.50.

•"Canada in Flanders." Volume III. By Major
Charles G. P. Boberts. With a Preface by Lord
Beaverbrook. Toronto: Ho.lder and Stoughton. 1918.
Pp. xiv, 144.

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

January, 1019.

country which has attempted, during the actual
progress of hostilities, to publish an official ac-
count of the fighting in which her troops have
been engaged. There must be an interesting
story behind the publication of these books,
when one considers the rigorous censorship
which has elsewhere wrapped the details of the
war in obscurity.

Major Roberts' volume is a distinct improve-
ment on it predecessors. There is in it none of
that fulsome flattery of prominent officers and
politicians which marred the first volume of
' ' Canada in Flanders. ' ' As might be expected,
the book is written in fine nervous English.
The style is, if anything, a trifle reserved;
though here and there Major Roberts opens out
into a purple passage, such as that describing
the appearance of one of the "Tanks" at Cour-
celette, which deserves to become classic.

Human details abound. The fickle fortunes of
war are well illustrated in the story of the raid
which nearly miscarried because "the bugler
who was to have sounded the signal to retire
fell into an exceedingly muddy and unsavoury
shell-hole and lost his bugle." One can see that
bugler in the mind's eye. One likes, too, the
story about the Canadian soldier, covered with
Somme mud and soaked with Somme rain, who,
when challenged by a sentry's "Halt. Who goes
there?" grunted, "Submarine U 13." When
one remembers how much there must have been
that Major Roberts would have liked to say,
but has not been able to say, his volume begins
to assume the character of a tour de force.

Such are the chief contributions which the
year 1918 has made to Canadian history. It is
not perhaps a notable list ; but in war time we
must be content with small mercies.

A Desirable Compromise

ELODY scarcely allowed,
Discords the whole of the way,
Such is "Good Music" to-day,
Dull, and precipitous-browed.

Sentiment, pathos gone wrong,
Soft as the brain of a sheep,
Pretty, and vulgar — and cheap.

This is the Popular Song.

Why are composers to-day
Sloppy, or dry as a prune?
Oh, for a Schubert-y tune

Set in a Modernist way!

J. E. Middleton.

For War Doubts

Life is a little section square,

Cut from a picture vast and rare.

If we could see the whole design
We would not change a single line.

— W. D. Lighthall.

January, I'.H'J.

CANADIAN HOOKM I \

Canadian Publishers and War

Propaganda

By HUGH S. EAYRS

ONE often hears the "man in the street,"
that vague and elfin maker of pronuncia-
memtos, declare, with an Injured air, that
America has shown her Knowledge of the value
and effect of war propaganda, '"it that Canada
has lagged far behind. Every possible force
towards the securing of :i national will to
trounce Germany has been harnessed by the
directors of propaganda in the United States,
our informant goes on. Moving pictures, per-
iodicals, transportation, theatre, pulpit, daily
press. — those in control of these have set their
hand and seal to a definite and direct course
heading propaganda- wards — down there. In
Canada, alas and alack — and here the injured
one shakes his head as he visualizes his coun-
try going to the demnition bow-wows — we do
not know the art of propaganda: we do not re-
cognize its tremendous worth : we do not gauge
its importance as a weapon in our national ar-
moury, and so on.

Canadian publishers of books, however, beg
to be excused from taking the count. They
don't agree. They think that so far as propa-
ganda along effectual lines is concerned they .
have done their bit. An examination of the
facts seems to substantiate their contention.

In over four years of wTar Canadian publish-
ers have distributed probably at least one thous-
and different war books, all of which have had
sales varying from one hundred only to twenty-
five, thirty and forty thousand — old books and
new books, wise books and foolish books, books
intimately connected with and bearing on the
Great "War and books that had no possible re-
lation whatsoever. In fact, anything that men-
tioned war, this war or any war, was a war
book. As Canada was in the war, Canadian
publishers followed suit. For Fall and Spring
and Fall and Spring and Fall, bringing us to
the end of 1916, war books had their innings.
The public tired : it was the weariness that
comes from over-feeding. But shortly America
was to join the Allies, and Canadian publishers,
to oblige their American connections, urged a
renewal of the diet of war books. American
publishers sold war books by the hundred thous-
and— they had just entered the war. Canadian
houses counted themselves fortunate, in most
cases, to sell them by the thousand. The reason
is patent. They had done their part as propa-
gandists at a time when propaganda counted,
and though their work in this cause did not
cease till the war was over, the part that re-
mained was not so vital in importance. The
prime need was men : it is conceivable that a,

potential aid to their securing and drumming-
up was the sale of a certain few books, and par-
ticularly in tin' early months of the war.

War-time book publishing which has con-
tributed to propaganda effort may be divided
into six main classes,

1. Books detailing the argument for the
Great War.

2. Books of adventure and experience.

3. Books which were concerned to discover
the Allies to the World.

4. Books reflecting personal emotion.

5. Books depicting the humorous side of
war.

6. Books developing the national attitude to
Peace and Reconstruction.

In the first of these classes come books like
Sir Edward Cook's "Why the .Empire is at
War"; "Germany and the Next War" by Bern-
hardt Grave's "Secrets of the German War
Office" (since much discredited but invaluable
propaganda in its way). These two or three are
each types of large numbers of titles which, in
1915, the Canadian public read with avidity.
The succinct, simple and complete statement
of Sir Edward Cook as to British war aims,
printed in both French and English, was pro-
paganda of a very real kind indeed. The bra?-
adoccio quality wf Bernhardi's book inspired
the reader to a personal share in the task of
settling forever all that kind of talk.

In the second class, books of adventure and
experience, there have been books touching on
every phase of the war. The books of "Taff-
rail" and "Bartimeus" in their way are epics
of the splendid part the British Navy was
playing, particularly in the opening months.
"My First Year of the War." Frederick Palm-
er's book, which had an amazing popularity,
could not but stir the souls of men and impel
them to some sort of effort. "Kitchener's
Mob" by James Norman Hall told yet another
story of the brave and srallant gentlemen who
saved France and also England at the Batt1^
of the Marne. Empey, a brutish looking ser-
geant, thrilled fifty thousand Canadian readers
by his "Over the Top." a book that tore the
heart out of the personal experience of the com-
mon soldier in the trench. Indisputably his
book made many men make the decision that re-
sulted in the donning of khaki. "Private Peat"
was more ladylike in his treatment of the same
theme, but he counted his readers in Canada
by the tens of thousands. George Pearson's
"Escape of a Princess Pat" — one of the finest
pieces of descriptive writing in these many

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

January, 1919.

years— immortalised those first Canadians in
the war.

Books in this class, of course, are more numer-
ous than in any other. There was excuse for
most; reason for some, and all had the effect
of harping on the one theme: that those they
told of were doing their bit. The inferred in-
terrogation was "What about you?" Certain-
ly in the very fact of publishing such books Can-
adian publishers were indisputably doing pro-
paganda work that counted.

Of books which attempted to clear up evident
errors in the minds of neutrals — notably the
United States before its entry— as to the reason
for the Allies being at war, their part in the
work and their way of bearing and doing their
part, there were not enough.

An outstanding example of this class was H.
G. Wells's "Mr, Britling Sees it Through,"
probably the sincerest bit of work that Wells
ever did. "Mr. Britling." I venture to think,
discovered England and the English to Ameri-
ca. It dwelt alike on their drawbacks, their
foibles, their blunders, and their magnificent
and wholehearted effort. It might have been
written by an outsider who is commonly sup-
posed to see most of the game, so shrewd, so
meticulously truthful, so character-faithful
was it, "Christine," by Alice Cholmondeley,
was another book whose propaganda value along
this same line was immense. It showed the Eng-
lishwoman for what she was against the back-
ground of the German mind and character.
Margaret Sherwood's "Worn Doorstep," "A
Hill top on the Marne" by Mildred Aldrich,
and a few others all contributed to this end. It
is important to remember that fiction played its
part. "Changing Winds," by St. John Ervine,
from the point of view of the character analy-
sis, it contained, possibly belongs in the second
class of which I have spoken. But it was in-
directly the means of telling the truth about
the Irish and the English in war time, and as
such belongs in this third class. So does Mary
Sinclair's "The Tree of Heaven," one of the
greatest novels of oilr time ; we shall see it as
such when we get away from these stressful
days.

This class could not be disposed of without
mention of Ian Hay's invaluable propagandist
book "Getting Together." Its author saw that
the United States misunderstood the attitude of
England and the English. He set to work and
wrote a book which had an appreciable effect
towards the end of sweeping away this misun-
derstanding.

There are many other books which helped
along this line of discovering the purpose and
aim of the early Allies, notably Britain. Can-
ada needed and therefore heeded such books.

In the fourth class, books of verse had an im-
portant place. The poignancy of Rupert
Brooke's poetry, in view of his death, touched
the world. John McCrae's "In Flanders Field"
rang through two hemispheres. Bernard Trot-
ter, in his "Canadian Twilight" and other

poems, verse of exceptional merit, and Alan
Seeger in his poetry, notably "I have a ren-
dezvous with Death," stirred readers' in their
respective countries to a sense of the high call-
ing of which these sang so strikingly. Along
another line Harold Begbie's verse "Fighting
Lines" and, much more lately, Douglas Dur-
kin's "The Fighting Men of Canada," sal
glory of the rank and file in stirring fashion.
In prose Henri Barbusse, whose "Le Feu" had
an extraordinary sale, made us aware of the very
filth and smell of warfare as the French poiltt
knew it. The book had its place as propaganda.
This class contained perhaps the most effective
propagandist books of any. singe they appealed
to the intellect. They were for the men of think-
ing mind. They dealt not so much with the ac-
tualities of warfare as with the thoughts and
impulses and emotions of those making war, in-
dividually each in his own corner of the world
battlefield.

Empey in "Over the Top" may be said — if a
vulgarism is permitted — to have "got them go-
ing." But the soldier-poets laid bare their in-
most thoughts; their message was for the stu-
dents and thinkers.

Very valuable propaganda indeed has been
Bairnsfather's work, as a cartoonist, now pub-
lished in five books. It was necessary that the
lighter side of war be seen. There is a comical
and humorous viewpoint as the soldier and sail-
or know, and Bairnsfather's drawings and
Edward Streeter's "Dere Mabel" did their part
in emphasising it. Books in this class are few,
but in putting them out publishers achieved re-
sults as propagandists.

The fifth class is important and daily grow-
ing more so. To it belong such titles as Mr.
Wells's "In the Fourth Year of the War," per-
haps the sanest pronouncement on the attitude
of the people composing the Allied nations to-
wards Peace. Theodore Marburg's "Lea Erne
of Nations" books and Mr. Dillon's "Eclipse
of Russia" are two among many scores of pub-
lications discussintr post-war problems. The fu-
ture will bring many more, one ventures to
think, as it is bound to bring a good deal of
matter referring to the place in the sun, which
the new Germany is to be permitted to hold.

It should be said, in conclusion, that the pro-
paganda work done by Canadian publishers has
not been entirely haphazard. There has been
plan and method in the decision to accept or re-
fuse the average war book, and in the decision
the fact of usefulness or uselessness from a pro-
paganda standpoint has undoubtedly been a
factor. The publishers might have paraphrased
the saying of the old singer as to the relative
value of hymns and laws and cried: "Let us
make the reading of the people, we care not — '
makes the laws." They have treated their call-
ing in these war years as a serious one and a
high, and without their efforts the light of pro-
paganda could not have shone to half the pur-
pose it has shone.

January, 1919.

CANADIAN BOOKM I \

H. G. Wells Again Incandescent

By J. A. DALE

TIIK fiction of to-day is turning its atten
tion very gravelj to education. Some
'it' the mosl remarkable of recent n ivels
"in to reveal the building-up or under-
mining l of i baracter and mind, in read i
the swiftly changing circumstances of the last
few years. A whole school of brilliant writers
have vividly portrayed the growing pains of
modern youth, undergoing the process I' edu-
cation in institutions [ess responsive than they
to change. Never has there been an age so
documented as this, so consciously and volum-
inously recorded, thanks largely to the writ-
ers of fiction. The future historian of our
time will find sonic of his most living material
in the records of sharp and subtle changes of
atmosphere, in that most sensitive medium, the
mind of youth.

Here is a subject made for Mr. Wells. And
now. too. is the moment suited to his genius
when young and old (both ideas and people)
are suddenly halted as by a sentry on the way
they were carelessly treading. Of course many
(people and ideas) will slink by : but Mr. Wells
has both the determination ami the skill to
make us face the facts as he very earnestly
sees them. This goes to the root of Mr. Wells'
success in this remarkable book. The pano-
rama of society leaves a photographic, bio-
graphic, record on his mind. His observation
is so alert and his memory so crowded that,
without his immense energy, his store of ex-
perience would be a mere welter — at best an
inexhaustible fund of anecdote. T have used
the word ''genius" of this book. "Joan and
Peter.** The justification could not be better
said than in the famous passage of Coleridge:
"To carry on the feelings of childhood into
the powers of manhood; to combine the child's
sense of wonder and novelty with the appear-
ances which every day for perhaps forty
years had rendered familiar . . . that is
the character and privilege of genius, and one
of the marks which distinguish genius from
talents.'* Mr. Wells" observation is as fresh.
as restless, as completely absorbed and as eas-
ily distracted, as a child's. But with all this
apparent incontinence of interest, there is the
scientist's sense of the immanence of great
principles in little things: and there is (though
to a less extent I the artist's sense of their rele-
vance to his composition. And behind all is
a resolute, persistent, passionate ardour for the
welfare of humanity.

Judged simply as a story, the plot marches
firmly and clearly throughout, without any
of those violent unnatural expedients which
Mr. Dixon Scotl in the case of "Marriage")
justly called "artless." It is full of interest
and excitement, with many a deft and happy
touch. Some of its episodes are masterly; such

as Peter's flying, -loan's dancing, ami the

scenes in which Wilmington and -loan bring

er to his senses. Indeed in the personal

relations n, which the ordinary novel would

its attention, the central characters

form a moving study, much of it done without
ous ulterior motive, and with an extreme-
ly sensitive sympathy. -loan is a true hero-
ine, drawn with insight and tenderness and
strength, and in the working out of her rela-
t'on t'i Peter .Mr. Wells has dealt successfully
with a difficult psychological problem in very
concrete terms. Many of the minor characters
arc drawn with zest and skill, with the author's
old wealth. of resource in satire, comedy and
farce. Mr. Wells makes little further addition
here to his series of studies in sex pathology;
his deep and practised sensitiveness to the sex-
ual under and over tones stands him in better
st.ad. He has drawn with clean justice and
reverence a normal woman in her relations to
men. in Dolly and Joan; while the distaste of
Oswald and -loan and Wilmingtdn for mere
vicious indulgence sets the whole matter in a
more wholesome perspective, the benefit of
which it is obvious that Mr. Wells himself
shares.

Mr. Wells then gives us full measure in his
story. Its epic scale is due to the fact, that
the influences moulding the lives of his char-
acters are realised as moulding the fate of
society, especially of England, and the Brit-
ish Empire. This gives him his chance for
frank pamphleteerng which is bound to be
very annoying to many of his readers, and
intolerable to some. Like his own Oswald he
turns a fierce red eye (the effect is greatly
enhanced by its being om eye! on his con-
temporaries. Probably there is no reader who
will not find some source of irritation in
these tirades; but it is the critic's business (and
the wise reader's advantage) to keep his tem-
per and arrive at a sound judgment. The
11 vel is an improvisation, much of it masterly
in the extreme, and unerring in literary skill ;
but sometmes careless, and more often incom-
lv worked out. Even for Mr. Wells'
swiftly moving thought and instantaneous vis-
ualisation, the actual amount of time spent in
writing this too long novel has been too short,
and the success of his workmanship follows
the variations of his mastery over the particu-
lar material in hand. Much of this belongs to
the atmosphere of what Mr. Dixon Scott called
ieties for scolding Society." in which Mr.
Wells, like Mr. Shaw, was brought up.

Much more essential, however, is what I
am tempted to call, the modesty of Mr. Wells.
He is of course a radical in type: take this
known fact, and the present book, as data. He
takes as his angle of vision a clearly defined

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

January, 1919.

character with a verifiable set of opinions,
and tries it out against the actualites. Oswald,
by his education in the Navy and in Africa,
and by his mutilation in the heroic deed which
gained him the V.C., is set apart from the or-
dinary influences which mould the minds of
people brought up (like the class to which he
belongs) in a fixed circle of conventions.
Still further removed by long absence and all-
absorbing work, he returns to look at English
society, at once with detachment and with a
passionately clear ideal of the imperial des-
tiny. The situation immediately becomes con-
crete. He is not a mere critical spectator. He
has to provide, within the resources of Eng-
lish society and education for his wards Joan
and Peter — an education which shall prepare
them for their share in the imperial heritage
of privilege and responsibility. This is the cen-
tral theme. By the accidents of orphanage
and birth Joan and Peter are similarly cut
off, and their isolation is admirably depicted.
It would be hard to find more excellent and
appealing studies of childhood, in its inar-
ticulateness and helplessness, yet in the imag-
inative completeness of its world; all the fas-
cinating interplay of dependence and inde-
pendence. Having thus set his characters he
leaves them to puzzle it out in the complex
situations of their environment — puzzle it out
as so many of heroes have done, as Mr. Wells
has done himself, through a long career of
thinking aloud in the hearing of the public.

It would certainly be a paradox to say that
Mr. Wells is not positive. But it is as certain-
ly true that his fundamental quality is scien-
tific— the testing out of hypotheses, a never
defeated, if generally baffled, research. Oswald
and Peter will follow their own experience
and character in attempting to work out the
puzzles of life, and Mr. Wells will give them
every chance to arrive at their different con-
elusions. Even Peter's Old Experimenter is
only one phase of Mr. Wells' very experimental
God — this time, an image made less in the
likeness of man than a symbol of the whole
process by which all life adapts itself without
ceasing, to environments only dimly under-
stood, and only capriciously friendly. It is a
tribute both to Mr. Wells' science and his art
that the problems over which he and his char-
acters are exercised are left unsolved ; for they
are the deepest of problems, and he leaves in-
tact their final quality, that their solution is
beyond us. Not that he is without clues, both
in his science which has taught him what is
known about the biological processes, and in
his intense faith in the power of knowledge
and trained goodwill. Mr. Wells has in some
of his work shown a weakness for prophecy;
perhaps the modesty I note here is a recent
acquisition. But even in dealing with his main

theme, education, of which he does know a
great deal, he rejects the easy way of a pre-
mature solution. It would take far too long
to follow Oswald and his wards on their edu-
cational pilgrimage, but those who are anx-
ious about educational problems (they
must be callous whom the war has not
shaken into anxiety) will find them of ab-
sorbing interest. The criticism is bitter and
destructive; but what are the enemies? The
mere list shows how fundamentally construc-
tive the criticism must be. All his batteries
are trained on stupidity, self-deception, cant,
intolerance, ignorance, prejudice. If he at-
tacks the schools, it is because he sees in some
of them these very qualities, fraught with dis-
aster past, present and future, being fostered
in the very institutions which should destroy
them. He blazes at the thought of the lost
time, the lost power for good, the fumbling
incompetence; "the generations going to
waste, like rapids." He knows that man at his
best can stop it ; but he knows, too, that we
have as yet only "the faintest idea of the
possibilities and responsibilities of education."
The general fogginess about what education
can and ought to do, and by what means —
the debate carried on in vague, slippery terms,
any* attempt to elucidate which leads to exas-
peration— all this is well done. But it is only
right to add that educational opinion and prac-
tice is moving, and that some of Mr. Wells'
school pictures already look old-fashioned. For
the purpose of this novel he has in mind ex-
clusively the training of those who are des-
tined to belong to the "directing classes" — ■
the natural point of view of his Oswald. Even
within these limits he can not convey a com-
plete idea of English education. The Eng-
lish way leaves so much to personal initiative,
that the discontents and aspirations, becoming
rapidly more articulate during the last fifteen
years, have bred a promising freedom and var-
riety. Neither are there any men more worthy
to be called guardians than the best type of
English public-schoolmaster, nor any more
fruitful nurseries than the old universities. One
of the world's great undeveloped sources of
"wealth" is the bringing of this personal in-
spiration to the character building, not of the
happy few, but of every one with the capacity
of response. Then the business of the com-
monwealth will be done with more humanity
and better workmanship — with fewer of the
mistakes which depress and anger not Mr.
Wells only, and with more of the steadfast
purpose and trained knowledge which has gone
into man's scientific achievements. That is
the hope that lies deep in Mr. Wells' thought
and gives it its extraordinary incandescence,
("Joan and Peter." by H. G. Wells, Macmil-
lan, Toronto, $1.75.)

January, 1919.

CANADIAN BOOK i/.l.N

:,1

(«

Drums Afar," by J. M. Gibbon

y} V his second novel, bearing the resounding
±J title "Drums Afar." Mr. John Murray
Gibbon definitely establishes himself as
the most important novelist domiciled in Can-
ada. This is a much less sweeping statement
than might appear at first sight, for Canada
does not happen at presenl to be the abiding-
place of any great number of novel-writers
whose importance extends beyond the narrow
limits of the cradle-bars of the infantile Cana-
dian Novel. ~Slr. Gibbon is not a Canadian, is
not trying to write the Canadian Novel, and is
in no wise circumscribed by the cradle-bars.
Although living in our midst, he writes honks
which belong, by all the indications of style and
contents, to the new Younger School of English
fiction — and to a Scottish branch of it ; and to
discuss him in relation to Canada is merely to
evade the difficult task of placing him in re-
lation to the other rising young novelists of
Great Britain. We must he thankful (to Pro-
vidence and the Canadian Pacific Railway'i that
we have him in our midst, and that he is more
and more devoting his art to Canadian subject-
matter; but it would he absurd to claim him as
a Canadian author or to assert that his hooks
are the product of a Canadian environment. It
is scarcely likely, even should he live here for
the rest of his life, that he will ever he one of
the parents of the Canadian Novel. He may.
however, be one of the obstetricians assisting at
its hirth; for he is certainly helping Canadian
writers to see the pictorial qualities and drama-
tic values of ranch of the current life of our
country which they have been grossly neglect-
ing in their ill-advised hunt for true Canadian
romance in the lonely wastes of the hinterland
or the vague and shadowy days of the past.
"Drums Afar" makes the present-day life of
Montreal a part subject (not the whole subject.
hut quite an important part) of a very vivid
and very romantic narrative, and puts the
Windsor Hotel into current literature (perhaps
into permanent literature — who knows?) by
staging in one of its luxurious suites a very
poignant and tremendously human love -quarrel
between an Oxford graduate and the daughter
of a Chicago millionaire. It is typical of our
lack of confidence in our own "atmosphere"
that no Canadian writer (even if one of them
could have written this scene as well as Mr.
Gibbon) would have dreamed of staging it in
such a place.

Novels concerning love and marriage between
an English youth and an American girl have
been plentiful enough in recent years, but none
of them, we believe, has devoted quite so much
skill and care to the portrayal of what the two
parties, and their respective families and en-
tourages, really think about the other country
and its institutions and manners. The real
theme of "Drums Afar" is the growth of un-
derstanding between England and the United

states; and Canada plays her pari chief

a mediator in the pr< sa of mutual revelation.

The Americans understand Canada in spite of
her being British, and are thereby helped to a
better understanding of the British themselves;
the Britisher begins by scorning Canada Mr
Gibbon refrains from giving as details of the
behavior of noisy Canadians in England prior
to 1914, which gave rise to this Bcorn, but leaves
room for a horrible suspicion that some of our
des Scholars were in part responsible) and
ends by learning from Canada his own weak-
nesses and acquiring a conception of Anglo-
Saxondom which he could not have obtained
from any number of years in Oxford. The re-
sult is a development of mutual sympathy and
understanding which is genuinely typical of
the process which has been going on in all three
countries ever since the war began to knead
them together.

The chief defect of the novel is one which is
common also to "Hearts and Faces." the au-
thor's earlier work, and to not a few of the
younger English novelists. It is an excessive
pre-oeeupation with external detail. Time and
again Mr. Gibbon forgets all about his charac-
ters in the joy of telling us all about some new
place to which he has taken them. His informa-
tion is illimitable. If it were not for the loss
to the art of fiction, we should be strongly
tempted to nominate him as successor to that
Herr Baedeker who is now, we fear, permanent-
ly dismissed from his post of chief guide-book-
writer to the English-speaking traveller. He
can give you the effect produced by a great
mountain at sunrise, the ensemble of a famous
restaurant, the decoration of Mrs. Van Schuy-
ler's tea-room at Newport, the furniture of a
Goettingen boarding-house, the noise of the
Chicago Pit. each in twenty lines of crisp stac-
cato sentences. At a conservative calculation,
his hero and heroine in this novel travel between
twenty and thirty thousand miles during the
action, and the important part is that the read-
er has to go with them. As a result, he is too
busy studying the scenery to learn much about
the character of his companions, and they never
have time to stop and reveal themselves fully.

For all that. Madeline Raymond, the Chicago
girl with the lovely voice and the picturesque
vocabulary, is drawn in sufficient relief to be
a highly desirable, if not absolutely a loveable
character, and as soon as she begins to take
shape, which is not until nearly half-way
through the volume, the story becomes much
more gripping than when it was concerned
merely with the university experiences, the Eu-
ropean travels and the calf-love affairs of the
comparatively shadowy Charles Fitzmorris.
Owing to Mr. Gibbon's method, we know all
about what Charles wears, and what he reads,
and how he decorates his rooms, and what he
thinks t^or rather what he says he thinks — much

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

January, 1(J19.

of the dialogue is merely a snappy exchange of
opinions on all sorts of current topics), but we
do not know much about what he is. beyond that
he is a very decent sort of Oxford man with i
ther more than the usual enterprise and ac
sibility to new ideas, and that we are quite pleas-
ed when he manages to win such a charming
prize as Madeline — and wish he would not (>••-
fordise quite so solemnly as he does after
first "passionate kisses."

"I believe I'm still a savage," she whispered,
as she drew back panting for breath.

As for Charles, he said:

"I believe I would like you better as a savage than
as a citified sophisticated Chicago girl. It is this
raw primal nature that has bridged the ocean and the
three hundred years between us. My God, how beau-
tiful you are! "

It is really wonderful how Oxford men can
carry on psychological analysis in the most try-
ing circumstan

There are a number of excellent minor •
act ts, though the plot flickers so rapidly and
constantly that we seldom get a chance to con-
template them carefully. Madeline's father is
a good example of the best type of American
business man. There is no villain, if we ex-
cept tin- German Empire and a Cockney adver-

tisement writer, who perpetrates the following

highly quotable dithyramb:

Buun's Blue Pills came to the modern children
of Israel like manna in the oasis. They are like
Mecca to the Arab steed and sweep like the Assyrian
upon the fold of intestinal troubles. Like Orion and
the Pleiades, Bunn's Blue Pills float above our dark
and troublous life, lighting our way to the carefree
digestion of the cassowary, in whose spacious stomach
a stone becomes as soft and succulent as Turkish De-
light. The discovery of the United States by Christo-
pher Columbus was nothing as to this world-upheaving
discovery by Professor Bunn, who stands like Mosej
upon a peak in Darien, holding his rod over the prom-
ised land of impregnable digestions.

One notable service, both to Canada and the
world at large, which "Drums Afar" is likely to
perform is the introducing to a larger public
of the exquisite folk-songs of Old French Can-
ada, which Mr. Gibbon's hero and heroine per-
form in Pierrot style at Henley in the days be-
fore the war. For that matter, we cannot eon-
ceive of anybody reading this book without ac-
cumulating some few additional scraps of know-
ledge about the world and its peoples from the
author's astounding storehouse. But is there
any authority for clipping the last syllable of
the lady's name in "Marianne s'en va-t-au
moulin," as Mr. Gibbon insists on doing? (S.
B. Gundy, Toronto, $1.50 net. i

Fisheries of the North Sea

THERE is a noticeable dearth of literature
in book form on the commercial fisheries
of the world. "Writings on the subject
are numerous, hut mostly in government blue
books, and small pamphlets are they found,
and usually in technical language not under-
stood by the layman. "The Fisheries of the
North Sea," by Xeal Green, is a welcome ad-
dition to piscatorial bibliography. The writer
shows a distinct grasp of the subject and an
unusual knowledge of the fisheries of Scan-
dinavia. France, Germany, Russia, Canada and
the United States. It is a little book, but its
chapters are well balanced and show evidences
of some clear thinking. Mr. Green gives a
light and comprehensive sketch of the history
and the natural advantages of the North Sea
fisheries, and, while dealing particularly with
that prolific fish-producing area, he introduces
several interesting features on fish migrations,
methods of fishing, value of catches in other
waters.

The principle back of the book is the need
for greater development of the North Sea

fisheries after the war. He complains of the
lack of interest in the fisheries on the part of
the public and their apathy to the importance
and economy of fish as a food. A note of
warning is sounded as to continental competi-
tion in the exploitation of the North Sea fish-
eries after peace is declared, and he advises
British fishermen to be prepared to maintain
supremacy in an industry which means much
to Britain in export trade and in the manning
of naval and merchant ships.

All that Mr. Neal says can be applied to
Canada in the development of our own fisher-
ies, and we heartily recommend this book to
Canadians — not only those directly interested
in the fishing industry, but also those thought-
ful citizens who are now studying ways and
means for the economic development of our
natural resources as a medium for paying our
debts and adding to the wealth of the Do-
minion, i Methuen & Co.. London, 4s. 6d. net.)

F. William Wallace.

January, 1919.

I i \ I/'/ I \ BOOR 1/ i \

Some Recent Canadian Verse

By J. A. DALE

Norwood, Robert W.: "The Modernists." McCIel

land, Qoodcbild & Stewart, Toronto, $1.25.
Redpath, Beatrice: "Drawn Shutters." Uun.lv, To-

ronto, $1.25.
Aikins, Carroll: "Poems." Sherman, French & Co.,

Boston, 85c.
Middleton, Jesse Kiljjur: "Sea I'o^'s :iml Men at

Anus." McClelland, Goodchild & Stewart, To

ronto, $1.50.
Gordon, Alfred: "Vimy Ridge and New Poems." J.

M. 1 >"ut & Son, Tmi onto, $1.25.

H R. NORWOOD'S new vclunic "The -Mod-
ernists," has an unusually interesting
plan. His Modernists arc people who were
"modern" in their day, who saw through and
beyond the current conventions, discerning the
religion of the future. Through their lips he
aims to show the vital quality of religion in the
historic development of man, from the primitive
savage to the modern scientist. His method is
to take a series of historic characters and make
them reveal their inmost heresies in dramatic
monologue, in the Browning manner. It is a
grandiose scheme, and one to stir the imagina-
tion. Mr. Norwood works it out with the fer-
vid enthusiasm of his emotional temper, enter-
ing with eager warmth into the imaginary
thoughts of his characters, in order to show
how they foreshadow or illuminate or re-inter-
pret the figure of Christ. It is indeed a won-
derful pageant of history that is conjured up
by the mere list of his pioneers — beginning with
the nameless Prometheus of the cave-men. and
leading, through Pharaoh Akhenaton, Paraoh's
daughter, Moses, Naaman, the Prophet of Che-
bar, Socrates, Vashti, Balthazar (one of the
Magi), the wife of Pilate, doubting Thomas.
Mary, Paul. Porphyry, Dante. Joan of Are,
Bruno, and across a considerable gap to Dar-
win.

The ambitious scale of Mr. Norwood's ven-
ture draws special attention to his style, and
this is not evenly equal to his zeal. The verse,
while easy and abundant, lacks Too often the
distinction that comes from the self-control of
the artist. Real felicities, though there are
many of them, are more rare than they should
be considering Mr. Norwood's fund of imagery
and sense of music. If he tries (like Keats) to
"surprise by a fine excess." he lacks as yet that
craftsmanship which alone can put excess to
good artistic use. and so produce the surprise
that is followed by satisfaction. For plastic, as
is the material of poetry, it needs a firm and
clean handling to give that air of finality which
distinguishes the best art. Mr. Norwood chal-
lenges a high standard. Browning himself
achieved a rolmst control of a riotous imagination
and immense knowledge, to an extent unusual
with him. in "Cleon" and "Karshish" — mas-
terly studies which must inevitably be recalled.
Two more modern poems of the same kind have

recently shown the .sane wealth of imagery, bul
in other respects present an interesting con-
trast: Mr. Lascelles Abercrombie 'a "Sale of
St. Thomas" (in the Georgian Poetry I
1911 L2), and Mr. Vautier Golding's "Miriam"
(in the University Magazine). The former is
pictorial and unconcerned with prophecy
vivid recreation of the doubting apostle face to
face with his life-work, alone, at the beginning
of his journey to India. The latter is an inter-
pretation of the mind of the mother of Jesus
a most thoughtful piece of work, as sober and
masterly in execution as it is glowing and pic-
turesque in imagination.

Mr. Norwood's epilogue is a very inadequate
"Voice of the Twentieth Century." It is not
altogether Mr. Norwood's fault if without the
help of emotional stimulus and a picturesque
dramatic setting, our unhappy century makes
but a ragged appearance in the gorgeous proces-
sion, and is a laggard in spite of the poet's lash.
When he can no longer interpret, without eon-
tradietion the first stammerings of prophecies
now safely fulfilled, his facile imagery forsakes
him. It is as though on a bleak day a door had
blown open in Mr. Norwood's heated apart-
ment, or an uncorked bottle of soda-water ap-
peared from his cellar of heady wine.

With Mrs. Redpath 's volume "Drawn Shut-
ters," we turn to an art of carefully recognised
limitations, done well within the writer's pow-
ers, and done consistently well. It suggests at
once the sister art of the brush. Her colour
scheme is admirably set by the title poem, and
so is the range of moods it paints : it is gray
and shadowed, with cool greens and silvers,
whose dominance is emphasised by the intrud-
ing splash of sunlit red. Even in "Full Noon"
the heat and colour preclude movement and al-
most stifle life, while they deepen the harmony
of the prevailing grays.

Her most persistent thoughts are of sleep and
weariness and death, of inert rebellion, and long-
ing for a vague escape, and vain backward
brooding upon tragedy — tragedy not recalled in
piercing detail, but in a narcotic day-dream;
and the lines move listlessly in keeping with the
thought. Some of her happiest effects are of
actual day-dreams: for example, "The Dancer"
calls up a delightful interpretation of motion
and sound in terms of picture. Her characters
are dreamers: such as her gentle "Sailor." who
had never been out of town, but lived in his
dreams of the sea, (so unlike those of Mr. W. II.
Davies' captivating but prevaricating seaman!).
And the spirit to which she gives most poignant
and intimate expression is that of the "Dead
Soul" so hopeless] v unfledged that it will nev-
er have the strength to rise from the earth. Mrs
Redpath gives evidence, as in "Earth Love." of

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

January, 191'J.

a less passive attraction to the earth than sheer
inability to leave it : will she not open her drawn
shutters and interpret her world in the light
of day? But meanwhile she has made a real
harmony of her little room in the gallery of art.

Mr. Aikins wins respect at once by his Dedi-
cation, which shows a sober dignity of thought
and music, not unworthy of its reminiscence of
some of Wordsworth's best loved lines. This im-
pression is confirmed. The little volume is
pleasant reading, varied in mood and versifi-
cation ; but always full of charm, the expression
of a real lyrical gift. The range is not wide
and the scale is small; but the touch is both
sure and light. Mr. Aikins' taste is fine and
delicate, and his thought rings true.

With Mr. Middleton's volume we turn sharp-
ly to the events of war. Many of these lyrics
sing of heroic and pitiful tilings, written while
the news was fresh. They are set in a back-
ground of memories of the old "seadogs and
men-at-arms" whose spirit lives on in those up-
on whom their task has fallen today. These un-
pretentious verses breathe a manly patriotism,
which finds expression in many robust forms.
Mr. Middleton is one of the many saddened men
who see their ideals violated and their boys lost
in their defence, while they are themselves re-
jected from the service and relegated to less clear
and simple duties. But this succession of cour-
ageous lyrics which has appeared from time to
time in the Toronto Daily News is part of h;-
"bit." His readers do not forget that, even if
its poetic quality be slight,

The song that nerves a nation's heart
Is in itself a deed.

The title of Mr. Alfred Gordon's new volume
sets a theme of abiding glory, to which his tri-
bute of song is a thoughtful study of Canada
under her new experience of military fame. He
shows her turning, in the midst of exultation,
to the old Motherland sobered, a long familiar-
ity with successful war and its responsibilities to
unboastful silence. In this poem, and in "Spring
1916," there is a simple strength of thought and
workmanship, that augurs a greater permanence
than can be expected of most war-verse. These

two have something of the quality which dis-
vinguishes Wordsworth 's war poetry, and is rare
so far in the poetry of today — the combination
of deep feeling and restraint, tin absence of
merely literary or pictorial adornment, the con-
centration on things missed by more facile
writers, and the remoteness from ephemeral
accidentals. The same quality is shown in "Not
Made with Hands," which is not, however, a
war poem.

There is a strongly contrasted group of war-
ballads celebrating such stirring incidents as
the silence of forty British prisoners before
Byng's attack at Cambrai, or the return of a
riddled aeroplane with its pilot dead. A third
group consists of short and searching studies of
less obvious soldier types — ' ' The Coward, ' '
"The Conscientious Objector," "The Con-
script": the man who goes to fight to escape
suicide, and the man who goes because he is
haunted by the eyes of "Fallen Comrades."
The lament for "John McCrae" takes the poppy
theme and makes a finely contrasted picture
from Swinburne. Of the other poems, which
display considerable versatility, one calls for
special mention — "The Little Son of the Pro-
phet." The crisis in which the prophet reveals
his mind is of great interest and strongly han-
dled. After fulfilling his long and hard pre-
paration in the wilderness, he has done his mis-
sion of denunciation, and the fresh fire of the
Lord's message has died down. He has long-
looked for one to take up his mantle when the
tint- comes, and his choice has fallen on a lad
whom he loves. But the boy disappoints his
hopes, and proves unequal to the heavy burden
• if prophecy. This opens the deeper issue of the
conflict between the desires of the human heart
and the life of ascetic dedication — with the final
cleaving doubt of the validity of the revelation
of God's will. The situation is convincingly per-
sonal and historic: its power lies in its being
also universal. It is a type of a crisis constant-
ly recurrent in the relation of elder and young-
er. Technically it is a good example of Mr.
Gordon's art at its best — the combination al-
ready noted of deep feeling and austere work-
manship.

January, 1919.

( i \ i/'/ i \ tiOOKlA i \

George lies' "Canadian Stories"

IN one of his essays. Bacon sagely remarks,
"The mixture of a lie doth ever lend zesl
to appetite." It may be in response to
Rome such unconscious impulse that so many
travellers along certain well-defined paths in
the world of hooks turn for "zesl " into the easj .
wandering by-paths of frictions even though
it may be harsh to apply to fiction the "short
and ugly." name id' lie. It has been said, more-
over, that every newspaperman in North Amer-
ica is secretly writing a play. Why is it not as
reasonable to suppose that every writer who has
not yet attempted it, privately cherishes the am-
bition to try his hand at that most elusive me-
dium, the short story?

It is hard to imagine the appetite of George
lies requiring zest. No man has preserved his
enthusiasms more fresh and buoyant than he.
Possessed of that leisure which in so many cases
is fatal to all sustained effort, he has never fall-
en victim to futility or mere dilettantism in
either his interests or his writings. Spending
the major portion of each year in New York and
the rest in Montreal, he knows an incredibly
large number of the people best worth know-
ing in both places. Some day perhaps he will
take time to write a volume of reminiscences
which will be very well worth reading.

It was perhaps to his intimate friendship
with Mark Twain and to more than a passing
acquaintanceship with Robert Louis Stevenson
that he owed his final inspiration to write. From
his earliest boyhood the story of the work of the
world's greatest inventors had always interest-
ed him. An early and long-sustained friend-
ship with Thomas A. Edison gave him much of
the personal interest for the .two books which
made his reputation as a writer on scientif
studies, "Flame, Electricity and the Camera"
and "Inventors at Work," both now out of
print. These were followed by "Great Ameri-
can Inventors," with admirable sketches of
Fulton, Whitney. Blanchard, Morse, Goodyear,
Ericsson, Mergenthaler and several others.

What is a man with these leanings doing am-
ong the short story writers? one asks. Perhaps
this slender little book of tales marks the defi-
nite transition of interest in a ripe intelligence
from things to men. These "Canadian Stories"

are all studies of men rather than chronicles of
events, examples of the queer evolutions of that
queerest of all created things, the human mind.
They will have unusual interest U,v the Mont
realers who remember their city as it was from

forty years to half a century ago, for their
background is in nearly every case the Montreal
of that period. How many of the characters

which pass across the pages under fi.-titions
names may he recognized by those who remem-
ber those days it would be hard ami perhaps a
bit dangerous to say.

Mr. lies is not one to dally with the well-es-
tablished and easily recognized artifices of the
professional teller of tales. Part of the charm of
these little stories is what lies hidden betwen
the lines. Here and there there is a hit of the
real Montreal of other days, as in "Who Killed
John Burbank?" here and there a whimsical
tribute to the changeability of human nature as
in "Slight Repairs." "As Others See Us" is
perhaps the most original and best told of the
stories.

Following these there is a reprinted lecture de-
livered last year at Hackley School on "Choos-
ing Books,'* slightly autobiographical and very
practical, a real guide for one taking the short-
cut of the five foot shelf. There is an excellent
but too short list of "books to be read" with it.

Then, by way of good measure, as it were,
there are a few pages of epigrams, some of
which may be given as samples :

Hope is faith stretching out rts hands in the dark.

An art is a handicraft in flower.

A superstition is a premature explanation that has
outstayed its time.

If there were no cowards there would be no bullies.

Eighteous indignation may be spleen in disguise.

Men will never disap>point us if we observe two
rules, (1) to find out what they are, and (2) to ex-
pect them to be just that.

A man may be called generous who suffers from
mere pecuniary incontinence.

Many an old library is not a quarry but a grave-
yard. Its inscriptions tell us only of the dead.

My son, honour thy father and thy mother by im-
proving upon their example.

Altogether Mr. lies" first venture into the
field of fiction has been a happy one. It is to
be hoped it will not be his last. I The Witness
Press. Montreal. $1.)

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

January, 1919.

The Distinction of Hergeshemier

DISTINCTION," in novels, as in whiskies,
is the result of a subtle blending of
many qualities, some of them too deli-
cate and elusive for classification. It has not
hitherto been a characteristic mark of any class
of American fiction. Strength, audacity, indus-
try, observation, sentiment, sympathy, invention,
mechanical skill — all of these in turns, and
sometimes all of them at once, have been ex-
hibited by the American novel often enough ;
but they- have left it measurably below the
level of the corresponding English product, in
the opinion of those who judge literary
values with a discriminating palate, by reason
chiefly of the lack of this one quality or blend
of qualities called distinction. Not one of them
hitherto has imparted the feeling that it was
the product of a mind at once delicate and
dexterous, both in the matter of its thought
and in the manner of its expression. Just as
certain men and certa'n women produce, at an
instant's glance or in a few words of conversa-
tion, the effect of "race," of "family," of a
distinction which goes further back than any-
thing that the individual himself can have
achieved by h's own actions or experiences, so
there are certain writers who give one the same
satisfying feeling after fifty pages of their
writing (and never cancel it by a lapse into
commonness) ; and s>uch writers have heen
rare in American imaginative literature since
it cut itself loose from its English ancestry.
Joseph Hergesheimer, who now has three im-
portant books to his credit, is one of them. He
is a very recent addition to American litera-
ture, and one for which Americans should be
thankful. American critics have compared him
with several English writers of "distinction,"
but only with one American — Hawthorne.

"The Three Black Pennys" (Penny is a pro-
per name, and the compositor and proof-
reader will therefore please refrain from cor-
recting this plural into Pennies or Pence), the
latest Hergesheimer novel, is thoroughly and
intensely American, unless we are to take the
rash and unjustified course of declaring that
distinction is an un-American quality. It

deals with American life over a period of one
hundred and fifty years, with the development
of an American family, with American social
conditions; and it does so with an insider's
knowledge and sympathy. It cannot be wholly
a coincidence that both in its form — that of
three mating episodes in successive genera-
t ons of the same family, — and in its milieu —
that of a family of great ironworkers, — it
agrees absolutely with the famous English
play "Milestones"; but it certainly owes no-
thing to that play except a suggestion. It is
not the operations of the parental and family
influences which interest Mr. Hergesheimer,
as they did Messrs. Bennett and Knoblauch;
his characters are too powerful to be much
governed by such influences, and the three
stories are clean-cut depictions of strong in-
dividuality, chiefly shown in the workings of
the sex instinct — told by a man who writes
about sex with the absolute detachment of the
artist and not with the pornographic over-
emphasis of our leading magazine contribu-
tors, nor the slightly shamefaced glance-and-
run methods of the more honest American
realists.

The reader who has access to a bookstore
need not take our word for the qualities of the
Hergesheimer work. They stand out as not-
ably in the style, the writing, as in the con-
ception. Let him pick up a copy of "The
Three Black Pennys" and peruse the opening
page, beginn'ng: "A twilight like blue dust
sifted into the shallow fold of the thickly
wooded hills." If that page does not give him
acute satisfaction, he need not bother any fur-
ther; the book is not for him. A reader who
is not accessible to distinction in language will
not be truly devout before distinction in
character-drawing and philosophy. . . .
The wrapper informs us that Mr. Hergesheimer
is Pennsylvania Dutch of many generations
standing, and that he is thirty-seven years
old, and that there are not "interesting
details" in his life — which is quite the most
interesting thing that it could tell us. (S. B.
Gundy, Toronto, $1.50 net.)

Fist Fights In Far B.C.

THAT large school of fiction-readers who
are thrilled by the vivid description of a
good fist fight will find plenty of this
form of entertainment in "My Brave and Gal-
lant Gentleman," by Robert "Watson, who has
studied Jeffrey Farnol to some purpose. It is
the story of an Englishman's experiences while
keeping a country store in a remote lumber-
ing district in British Columbia, and some of
the incidents are good literary material. Such,
for instance, is the story of the dour old Scots-
man, Andrew Clark, who has said no word to
his wife for ten years on account of a vow that
he would never speak to her again if she did
something in disobedience to his orders, and

who is eventually brought to reason by be-
ing penned up in the chicken-house for many
days without feed ; his breakdown, when he
calls for his wife and confesses that the ten
years have been years of torture for himself,
is very beautiful human material, simply told.
The handling of the main story is amateurish,
and it seems unnecessary that the hard-fight-
ing hero should have to become eventually the
Earl of Brammerton and his lady-love of the
backwoods turn out to be Lady Rosemary
Granton. Mr. Watson is to be congratulated
on his title, which is eminently calculated to
make Mr. Farnol jealous. (McClelland, Good-
child & Stewart, Ltd., Toronto, $1.50 net.)

January, 1919.

C l \ l/»/.I.V i:ooi(\l I \

Willow, the Wisp, and the Way
of the Wilds

A RCI11K 1'. McKishnie (one pauses to re
fleet how totally differenl ;i brand of
Literature be would undoubtedly bave produced

had lie elected to sign himself with the indoors
appellation of Archibald I is by virtue of inherit-
ance anil long practice the foremosl of our lum-
ber limit litterateurs, the most accomplished of
our furnishers of fishing-camp fiction. There
is, apparently, an inexhaustible demand for
novels about the "smell o' the woods an' the
call o' the birds," and the "clear-fringed
shores'* of the "placid lake" with their "rush
lined shallows," and big, muscular, open-air
men to whom the stars "sing out in the hushed
night with a melody atune
with the eternal chord upon
which hung all the harmony"
of their respective worlds.
There is a whole Dominion
full (for the most part) of
city-dwellers, convinced that
human nature only finds its
real, all-round development
in the vast primeval loneli-
ness of the forest — but not
by any means prepared to
seek their own development
there and abandon the de-
lights of the movie-show and
the departmental store ; and
these have an unconquerable
yearning to read about "the
big, simple law of the forest,
which reads, " 'Everythin '
pays sooner or later,' " and
which they therefore conceive
to be something totally dif-
ferent from any law current
in Toronto, Montreal, New
York or Petrograd. Mr. Mc-
Kishnie feeds their yearning with much skill
and with a real knowledge of the woods and
solitudes over which he thus sentimentalises (a
knowledge which must at times make him blush
to sentimentalise so), and a growing knack of
contriving a workable plot. "Willow, the
Wisp" (the title raises the old question whether
an author has a right to name or nickname his
characters with a sole view to inflicting a pun
upon his readers i is at least Mr. McKishnie's

Archie P. McKishnie

third novel, and in all respects excepl thai of

originality of literary style it is a decided ad-
vance on its predecessors. The vagueness of
characterization which made it difficult to I
up an tnteresl in the personages of the former
books is still present, but in the case of the
i ponj iiKiiis beroine of the new one the mis'
of the northern lakes occasionally pari suffi
ciently to enable ber to take some sorl of form
and beauty, albeit a form highly reminiscenl of

various "Girls" of various geograph
sub-divisions of the United States who have giv-
en their names to many recent American novels
and their wind-blown hair and abbreviated
skirts to the illustral
of the same. About his
new hero, also. .Mr. Mc
Kislmie has hung an ingeni-
ous aura of romance by mak-
ing him a sort of natural-
born animal tamer, who plays
with bears and foxes as other
men with cats abd does, and
who is savi d from an impend-
ing relapse into his old-time
drug habit by the affection-
ate solicitousness of a huge
and ferocious female lynx.
A regular modern Daniel!
When a man like this j
into a complicated love af-
fair and a feud with lav,
neighbours at the same time,
one naturally wants to know
how he is going to come out
of it, and so one reads to the
cud of a novel which seems
at times a trifle over-burden-
ed with descriptions of sun-
sets and purple mountains
and tamaracks and forest - ringed lakes

The end is all that the most sentimental read
er could wish for ; the good are happy and mat-
ed, the bad are punished and hated. But then
have we not that good old "law of the forest''
to ensure just that retributive justice which.
in our less primitive cities, and other places
where the forest has been chopped down, so
often misses its mark '.' < Thomas Allen. To-
ronto. $1.35.)

CANADIAN BOOKMAN January, 1919.

Twentieth Century Librarianship

By Mary J. L. BLACK

j T is a long step from the scholarly musty old
gentleman one has so often seen pictured
as guarding- the library, wrapped up in
his books, without an eye or thought to the out-
side world, to the alert business-like personage
one now sees moving quickly around the streets,
meeting the world in their offices and factories,
coming in constant contact witli commercial
life, and who introduces himself as the city
librarian. This new type may be scholarly and
have a wide book knowledge, but to him boo'-
are only a means to an end, and so he realizes
that this constant contact with the work-a-day
world is necessary in order that he can learn
their book needs, and put the enormous mass of
printed material at their disposal. To him,
there is little virtue in having a book on the shelf
unless there is also a reader at hand to enjoy
and use it, and so to him, there is more joy and
glee in finding a reader than even in getting
possession of a fine and rare edition. If this
modern were asked to enumerate the qualifica-
tions necessary for successful librarianship, he
would surely put the spirit of service and know-
ledge of people even before a knowledge of books
and all three would precede an acquaintance
with library technique and business training.
The interested public, however, soon recognize
that the last mentioned qualification exists also,
and that their librarian is not a sentimental
and altruistic missionary indulging in works of
supererogation, but rather a sane and practical
member of society who desires to create a need
for his service in the public life, that will carry
his calling far beyond the class of the sinecure.
With this object in view, the modern public
library has developed with all its reference fa-
cilities of books and periodicals, newspaper
clippings, and trade bibliographies to which
everyone has the easiest possible access. That
the public library is an institution instituted for
the purpose of catering only to a special class
or group of classes is a fallacy from which it
is very hard to get away, the whole history of
the movement conducing to that misconception.
Our musty old friend begrudged allowing even
students to use his books, but his prejudices
were at last overcome. Following his regime
came the library of our childhood which was an
institution for mechanics as well as students.
Since then the children have come to their own.
but often at the expense of these former groups,
and following the recognition of the children's
reeds has come an appreciation of the claims of
young people. It is only, however, since our
business-like librarian has taken charge, that
the thought has come to us, that the public
library is not specifically a students' library,
or a mechanics, or even a children's, but a citi-
zens' library, and that unless it reaches direct-
ly as well as indirectly every class of citizen in

the community, it is not fulfilling its normal
function.

This idea presents a problem much greater
than anything with which our librarian has
ever been confronted before, and it is one
that can only be solved approximately during
the present generation. In the days to come,
when the children growing up will have all been
taught in the schools how to read, and in the
public libraries what to read, the problem of
the librarian in his relationship to the adult
members of the community will be greatly sim-
plified. By then, everyone will have been train-
ed to recognize in the public library, the natural
laboratory, where all workers in the community
will turn for inspiration and new ideas, or for
means for developing those ideas which already
have come to them through their practical ex-
perience. Then, that antagonism, which though
often unnoticed, is nevertheless most general
between the practical man of experience, and
the baok taught man. will have disappeared, for
by then, we will have all learned that book
information is of no value if not put into use,
and that personal endeavor is but slightly to
one's credit, unless the worker knows from
books as well as from personal experience that

MISS MARY J. L. BLACK,
Librarian, Fort William, Ont.

January, 1919.

CANADIAN HoohU.W

he is getting the besl results in the easiest
and quickest way. Thru, the Librarian will be

able to stand, equipped with his I ks and his

knowledge of them, and wait Eor the public to

'■'i when occasion requires, but much thai

makes twentieth century librarianship interest-
ing will have passed away. How tame his life
will he, when the man about town turns to the
public library for bis literary needs as natur-
ally as to his club for bis social requirements,
and when even the trained student realizes
thai there is a world of bibliographies of bib-
liography with which he could not personally
hope to be acquainted, but which is available
at the public library. Probably other fields
of.activity will open themselves to him, but in
the meantime we congratulate ourselves that
ourduty lies in these days of development when
the fight is still keen, and when the citizen at
large is turning with a wondering eye to the
hitherto unappreciated treasure trove of
printed matter in the city's public library.

A Working Library of Pulp
and Paper Literature

SOME time ago the committee on Techni-
cal Education of the Technical Section
of the Canadian Pulp and Paper Asso-
ciation were asked to suggest a list of books
and periodicals that would serve as the foun-
dation for a working library in a pulp or paper
mill reading room or the town library of a
mill town. It was decided that such a list
should include some general subjects besides
strictly pulp and paper material because of
the diversity of work necessary in such a
mill. Consequently, the following list is sug-
gested. It can be extended if desired, especial-
ly along scientific lines.

Pulp and Paper.

Chapters on Papermaking, Beadle.

The Manufacture of Paper, Sindall.

Technology of Papermaking, Sindall.

Wood Pulp and Its Uses, Cross, Bevan &
Sindall.

Practical Papermaking, Clapperton.

Text Book on Papermaking, Cross and
Bevan.

Dyeing of Paper Pulp. Erfurt.

Papermaker's Poeketbook, Beveridge.

Paper Mill Chemist, Stevens.

Chemistry of Papermaking, Griffin- & Lit-
tle. (Out of print.)

Treatment of Paper for Special Purposes,
Andes.

General.

General Chemistry, as McPherson & Hen-
derson.

General Physics, as Carhart & Chute.

American Machinists Handbook, Colvin &
Stanley.

Steam Power Plant Engineering, Gebhardt.

American Electrician's Handbook, Terrell
Croft.

Engineer's Handbook, as Kent or Iraut-

wine.

Periodicals.
Paper, New York.

Pulp and Paper Magazii I Canada. Mont-
real.
Power, New York.
Engu ring News Etacqrd, New Yoi

Canadian Chemical Journal, Toronto.
Canadian Forestry Journal, Ottawa.
Industrial Management, New York.

Library Notes

THE Board of Management of the Windsor
Public Library have in their selection of

a librarian to succeed the late Miss Pran-
ces E. McCrae shown a wisdom not always dis
played by public bodies. When a librarian was
to be appointed, instead of regarding the office
as a plum for some retired school-teacher or
other untrained and inexperienced local aspir-
ant, the Board set out in search of a person who
possessed the necessary qualifications. The de-
velopment of library work in the province for-
tunately gives now a fairly wide field of choice.
The appointment finally came to Miss Agnes I.
Lancefield. of the Toronto Public Library staff,
who for several years has bad charge of the Riv-
erdale Library. One of the strongest branches
in the Toronto system. Miss Lancefield is a
daughter of the late Richard T. Lancefield. who
for some years was Chief Librarian of the Ham-
ilton Public Library. She will bring to the re-
sponsible position to which she has been ap-
pointed, not only an enviable record of achieve-
ment, but a capability, an enthusiasm and strong
personal qualities which promise high success
in her work. The day has passed when a per-
son who "just loves reading" and is "awfully
fond of books" can hope to pass on these quali-
fications. As a component nart of our educa-
tional system the Public Library demands the
service of highly-trained intellects, united with
attractive personal finalities and inspired with
a strong public spirit to make it a force in the
upbuilding processes of the community.

IN the trinity of cities of Ontario (Toronto,
Ottawa and Hamilton) where the growth
of population has brought them under the
clause of the Public Libraries Act which pro-
vides for the appropriation of only one-fourth
of a mill on the dollar of assessment, the ques-
tion of salary increases has become at once a
live issue and an embarrassing problem. The
extraordinary increase in the cost of living —
nearly double what it was at the beginning of
the war — has made the present schedule of
salaries altogether inadequate, and the income
unfortunately has not grown in anything like
proportion to the development of the work, so
that Boards which gladly would advance the
salaries find themselves without the funds to do
so. The remedy lies obviously in the raising of
the library rate for such cities, and this is be-
ing pressed urgently upon the authorities in
Queen's Park. That something will be done to
give relief at the approaching meeting of the
Legislature may be taken for granted.

CAN. \DIA S BOOKMAN

January, 1919.

THE Library Training School for the Pro-
vince of Ontario, conducted under the
supervision of Mr. W. 0. Carson, Inspec-
tor of Public Libraries, is now in progress in
the Art Eoom of the Toronto Reference Lib-
rary. Twenty -five students registered this year,
coming from various parts of the Province, and
one from as remote an 'outside point as Halifax.
I nsf ruction in the several branches of library
work is being given by heads of departments of
the Toronto and London Libraries. A series of
lectures by specialists, dealing with various
lines of intellectual activity, has been a useful
feature of the course. The school is intended
only for those who already have entered library
work, enabling them to acquire a wider grasp of
the work than they would be likely to gain in
the course of their regular duties. Incidentally
a result is a supply of trained librarians, from
whom to choose when important positions are to
be filled. The entire expense, including the
railway fares of the students, is borne by the
Government.

THE Western University, London, has had
the good fortune to become the perman-
ent repository of the remarkable col-
lection of books gathered during his
life time by Mr. J. Davis Barnett, of
Stratford. This well-known library con-
tains one of the most notable collections of
Shakespearean works in existence, and also one
of the largest and best collections of Canadiana.
Under the terms of the bequest, Mr. Barnett will
have charge of the library, a guarantee of its
service to the public being all that could be
wished. The collection embraces more than 40,-
000 volumes.

The Library and the Soldier

THE free library is distinctly a new world
institution. No country of the Old
world has opened up branches and demo-
cratized the iise of books and reading rooms
for circulation and research purposes as have
the United States and Canada.

At the moment the American Library As-
sociation is included in the important socie-
ties clubbing together for a great war chest
campaign for funds. The other societies are
the Y.M.C.A.. the Y.W.C.A., the Knights of
Columbus, the Jewish Welfare and the Salva-
tion Army

When the United States entered the war, its
government granted the A. LA. one million dol-
lars. Their slogan was one million dollars for
one million books for one million soldiers. And
with that first money they built camp build-
ings to house their books, and a place where
the new magazines could be found, and where
questions could be answered all da3' long. Then
as the boys went overseas, the books went
along also. One hundred and thirty-nine hos-
pitals have been supplied from that fund, and

130 naval stations have books as well as 232
ships. This time they ask for $3,500,000 as
their share of the fifteen millions to be raised.
Their plans for the future are of even larger
scope.

Now in a quiet way Ontario has not done
badly in this matter of good books for our
men. The Board of Education has been al-
lowed to spend handsome sums buying books
for the army camps. The Inspector of Librar-
ies has been allowed to purchase generously
of books for the Y.M.C.A. camps.

In the Province of Quebec the McGill
Alumnae association has catalogued a library
of 5,000 volumes, and placed it in the Drum-
mond Street home for soldiers in Montreal.
They have also libraries in the two large hos-
pitals. But the Westmount Library has given
a more personal attention to the boys who
have gone from that municipality. The staff
of that library have, without any outside help,
sent steadily parcel after parcel of good novels
to the boys in France, and in every case they
have had the most grateful letters in reply.
The librarian has always been careful to choose
books she knew each particular boy liked. For
instance, she recalled that one boy would read
naught but western tales. Zane Grey, Cullum
and Curwood. Another had a leaning toward
Oppenheim and Mystery. A third insisted on
historical romance, where the hero wears a
cape and a slouch hat, and says, "I prithee
Sirrah," whatever that means.

Perhaps the best missionary work in Mont-
real has been done by the librarian of the
Y.M.C.A. Library on Drummond Street, where,
with small means and a very small salary she
has given much personal interest to the sol-
diers who from time to time come to her desk.

Let's Pretend

I name my brothers in a prayer,

Who are upon the sea,
Lynn, with brown and tumbled hair,

Lloyd and Deak, the three.
O the days we whittled boats

And sailed them on the sea.

The sea was running past our door,

A mountain brook and clear.
And little bays we scooped and shaped

To keep our fleets from fear.
Each bay we manned ; each ship we named,

And launched it with a cheer.

O little whittled boat that went

So slowly round the bend,
O happy days of make-believe

When will this anguish end?
Tears in my eyes? I am not now
So good to "Let's Pretend."

Mary Carolyn Davies, "The Drums in Our
Street."

January, 1919.

' l \ l/'/.l.\ BOOK 1/ l \

Weeding Out the War Books

IN the mind of the reviewer upon whose desk
books upon the war have, during the lasl
four years, been piled almost literally by

the ton, the appearan »f another of the same

category evokes as a rule but a passing interest.
As a matter of i'aet out of every hundred "war
hooks" which have appeared, about ninety-six

merit nothing more than a speedy oblivion, to

which they are doomed. The war has been so
enormous, mi complex and so tremendous in its
reaction upon every human ■•motion that very
few writers who have had real experience upon
the firing step or with the guns have }i,-r}\ able
to catch and fix more than an isolated and
sometimes quite unimportant phase of it. Par,
far too many war hooks have been merely con-
scientious hits of second-class newspaper re-
porting or. worse even than this, so obviously a
striving after a literary style, so heavily patch-
ed with purple as to he of little permanent
value.

"The Real Front" (Arthur Hunt Chute),
falls happily between these two extremes.
Captain Chute saw the Balkan campaigns as
a war correspondent and had, in consequence,
both a journalistic training in observation and
a sort of basis of comparison, however, inade-
quate, to begin with. In addition to these ad-
vantages he has a very distinct literary style.

The result is a book which is quite notably
above the ordinary, a sufficiently well connected
account of the formation of the first Canadian
contingent, from Valcartier through Salisbury
Plain — "the bitterest fight we ever fought."
as Captain Chute describes that unfortunate
period of training — right to the firing step be-
fore the first battle of Ypres. together with a
series of independent sketches and impressions.

"War in the first line trenches today is less
glorious than a slaughter house in Chicago,"
says ( 'aptain Chute. So far as material glories
are concerned he is no doubt right — there is
little of the bugle-blowing, sabre-waving
"glory" about it such as we have, probably
quite erroneously, been accustomed to associate
with the warfare of another day. But was war.
even then, so glorious? If we were asked to
pick out an incident of war as typically glori-
ous many of us would no doubt select the charge
of the Light Brigade at Balaclava. And yet
Captain Chute reports a conversation with one
of the surv;vors of the great feat and the aged
man carried "out of the valley of death" im-
pressions of something the very reverse of glor-
ious. As a matter of fact warfare probably nev-
er has been glorious to the men engaged in it.
But in the more genuine glory, in the glory of
eourage in the face of death at its most hideous.
of endurance under such tests as man has never
known before, of unselfishness when every in-
stinct Urged the reverse, of idealism, of gentle-
ness, of chivalry to a foe lost apparently to ev-
ery impulse of humanity, of utter consecration

"•''> faculty to th • common task in 8Uch
TJ < laptain Chute has, thank God, not found
this war to he lacking.

I quote just one of manj quotable sketche
modern warfare. It concerns a brigade head-
quarters during heavy action :

1 au the thick walla muffled every

" • -'"■ far awaj

'.■ "i' fli- Btricken men could nut be heard.

W1:r" ""■ jan 1 was afraid that the

chateau would Boon he about cur head calm

"•' tD lier gave me faith in the invulnerability

of the walls. The great, dark, panelled room was
wrapped in gli brigadier -.-it in a cha

'he window, the adjutant sat at a 'phone, a.
ired.

As I gazed at the face of the brigadier that tor-
nado of battle without seemed in another world. His
long, lean frame was sunken deep in his chair. In
ttie twilight all his minor t. |,ut a

bold, high forehead. a pallid countenance and eves as
black as the night itself, were clearly discerned." The
red and gold of his insignia gave the one relieving
touch of color. Looking upon him. sitting there so
sombre and aloof in the gloom of the chateau, I seem-
ed to be regarding a portrait by Rubens of some old
Fhmish master.

Outside, the shell-swept dip of the road and the
hunted figures reminded one of battle. But in the
room with the brigadier there dwelt the' calm of ves-
pers. Once during the early afternoon a shell came
crashing through the upper stories of the chateau. 1
was all atremble. But the br'gadier, with whom I was
conversing at the moment, merely raised his eyebrows
and with cold indifference announced: "That's pretty
cloie, my boy. Go on, my boy, go or. Don't let that
interrupt you."

Now and again a sudden ring of the 'phone told of
a frantic cry from the trenches or the guns. Often
the adjutant breathed with excitement a- lie told por-
tentous news. Sometimes there was a pause as the
chief glanced at a map of pondered dispositions.
But his imperturbable calm was unbroken and always
in that quite low-spoken voice he gave hi.- answer.

Many a time thereafter, when I had been far
forward in the midst of battle, there came with a
steadying peace the picture of that brigadier. Two
weeks later our line was suddenly pierced by the foe.
Consternation reigned in the trenches. During those
awful moments of suspense, while I sat in battalion
headquarters telegraphing to our guns, there flashed
before me in the shadow the memory of that serene
and steadfast face. In a moment of such importance
for us the memory of the brigadier seemed transcen-
dental, as the thought of God Himself. — (Harpers,
New York.)

In the high-pressure output of war books
which has marked the year 1918, a very pleas-
ant and. informing volume by a Canadian offi-
cer has failed to receive the attention which it
merits. This is 'A Surgeon in Arms," by Robert
•T. Manion, who served as a captain in a medical
unit accompanying the Canadian Corps in some
of its finest work at Vimy Ridge and elsewhere,
ed th. .Military Cross, and is today, as
representative for Fort William and Port Ar-
thur, one of the most useful members of the
new House of Commons. It is a simple and
straightforward account of the experiences of a
man who was obviously equally at home among
the headquarters officers and the privates, t1-
Oxford undergraduates of the British of fie

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

January, 1919.

ness and the most wildly Western of the Can-
adians, and found much human substance in all
of them. He had an interesting adventure
with the Prince of Wales in territory which was
far from being "safe," he collected an immense
number of really good messroom anecdotes, he
made some keen and scientific observation of
the behaviour of men in difficult situations and
of the effects of shell-shock— and he is com-
pletely silent as to the act of gallantry which
secured him his own decoration. Most of the
officers who figure in his anecdotal collection

are thinly disguised by initials and dashes, but
the military reader will have little difficulty in
placing them. Part of the charm of the discur-
sive narrative may be due to a strain of Irish
blood in the author. Surely nobody but an Irish-
man would have told us, concerning a fine Red
Indian soldier from Canada, that but for the
tinge of his skin "one would take him what he
is — a well-informed, educated North Ameri-
can." (McClelland, Goodchild & Stewart, To-
ronto, $1.50.)

The Education of the New Canadian

By HOWARD T. FALK

— A Ruthenian mother lay dying. She asked
to see "Meester Teacher." He came; she
took his hand, and, with tears streaming down
her toil-hardened face, in broken English she
said, "Meester Teacher, you good, you like my
Mary, my John — me want them go school learn
English — me go away — good bye — me see you
after." And then she died, but not before she
had seen into the soul of a true Canadian,
whose heart was as large as the prairies.

— I was at a concert in a little rural school,
where the children, all non-English, were re-
citing; I noticed a tall young man sobbing
bitterly. I asked him why. In broken Eng-
lish he told me that he had been denied the
privilege of learning English in a public school.
He had been the victim of a tolerance which
permitted a parochial school where English
was seldom taught.

At random I have selected two out of many
charming incidents related in J. T. M. An-
derson's "The Education of the New Cana-
dian." One wonders whether the realiza-
tion of the value of education ever stirs the
soul of humble English-speaking Canadian
mothers as it did these "foreigners."

The first 142 pages of Mr. Anderson's pains-
taking effort to arouse interest in this very
serious problem have little of human interest
and their appeal will be chiefly to the student ;
in them he has given us an excellent digest of
the 1911 census returns as they concern the
immigrant, and by the aid of well selected
passages from more extensive writings, such
as Dr. Emily Balch's "Our Slavic Fellow Citi-
zens," has given as a pen portrait of the Old
Land home conditions of our immigrant popu-
lation. Bi-lingualism, multi-lingualism and
mono-non-English-lingualism, as instanced by
the Mennonites, are discussed with a courage
and conviction which comes from a first-
hand knowledge, obtained by actual experi-
ence, of the dangers they involve.

Chapter VIII., devoted to the methods of
teaching English, must convince any impar-
tial reader that the direct method is the one
and only method for the children of New-Cana-
dians, and incidentally it affords an excellent

proof of the futility of attempting to teach
foreign languages to English children as we
still do for the most part.

It is not until Mr. Anderson tells the story
of Marion Bruce, the. department store sales
girl, who through selling ribbons and other
trifles to illiterate foreign girls, caught the in-
spiration which made her an ideal teacher, if
a somewhat unorthodox one — it is not until
then that he convinces us that his interest in
his subject is soul-deep and not merely aca-
demic. Therefore I would recommend that the
reader start at Chapter IX., convinced that it
will result in his reading the book from cover
to cover.

The problem of finding the right type of
teacher would be solved if Mr. Anderson's
book could be read by all the young women
in our stores and offices, for I am convinced
there are many potential Marion Bruees
amongst them.

When on January the first, 1918, an "ade-
cpuate knowledge" of English or French be-
came a pre-requisite to the granting of Cana-
dian or Imperial citizenship, it automatically
imposed upon our Provincial Governments the
responsibility of establishing Adult Night
Schools, and Mr. Anderson rightly looks to
such schools as the surest way to prevent the
debauchery of a foreign electorate.

To those of us who have seen the New-Cana-
dian in our larger cities, Mr. Anderson's book
leaves much to be discussed, for he treats his
subject almost solely from the rural stand-
point ; the Canadianizing of the city children
of our New-Canadians is a problem in itself,
and Mr. Anderson wisely limits his discussion
to the field for whicli his position as School
Inspector under the Saskatchewan Govern-
ment eminently fits him.

The book should be widely read in the four
western provinces by all who lay claim to be
really interested in this vast problem of assimi-
lation, and no Canadian, wherever he lives, can
claim to know his country unless he already
knows much of what Mr. Anderson gives in
such palatable form. (J. M. Dent & Son, To-
ronto, $2.50.)

January, 1919.

CANADIAN BOORM I \

Mining Books

IT is generally recognized thai when the war-
is over and tlic manufacturing of muni
tions erases. Canada must develop her rial

ural resources more rapidly and more et't'i
eiently. We have great mineral deposits thai
are known, and these must be developed and
mined by the hest known methods. We have
also large onprospected areas in which min-
eral deposits probably occur, and the deposits
must be found. Books that convey information
that will help the prospector or the mine op-
erator have therefore a great field for useful-
ness.

Mining being one of Canada's basic indus-
tries and the development of our natural re-
sources being of the utmost national import-
ance, we naturally expect to find the Dominion
and Provincial Governments taking a promin-
ent part in the dissemination of useful infor-
mation concerning minerals, mines and meth-
ods of treating ores.

At Ottawa we have a Department of Mines
for the purpose of gathering information, mak-
ing investigations, and advising the public, and
particularly those interesting themselves in
mining, of the results of the work. The varied
publications of the Department of Mines in-
clude many important treatises as well as re-
ports of progress. Those provinces which
have control of their mineral resources have
similar organizations; Ontario, British Col-
umbia, Quebec and Nova Scotia mines depart-
ments issue annual reports on mining. The
Department of the Interior which controls the
mineral resources of the Yukon, Alberta, Sas-
katchewan and Manitoba, has recently pub-
lished an attractive volume on gold mining in
the Yukon. One of the most valuable treatises
recently published in Canada is the report of
the Ontario Nickel Commission, which covers
in a masterly way the nickel industry.

Aside from Government publications there
are a few books on minerals and mining pub-
lished in Canada. Some years ago Copp,
Clark & Co. published a little book by Dr. W.
G. Miller, Provincial Geologist of Ontario, en-
titled "Minerals and How They Occur." Most
of the mining and metallurgical books used in
Canada are published in the United States.
We will review some of the more recent ones
in these columns later.

In 1914. shortly after the beginning of the
war. and in recognition of the great need for
concise information concerning our mineral
resources, the Mines Publishing Co., publishers
of the Canadian Mining Journal, undertook
the publication of the "Canadian Mining Man-
ual." Three editions have been published, and
a fourth is now in preparation. This new edi-
tion will be ready in December.

In this new edition of the Canadian Mining
Manual is to be found information concerning
all minerals, and metals produced in Canada,
mid all mining and metallurgical companies

operating in Canada. Two Chief objects aimed
al are to present in .•our,-,- form matter of in-
terest to persons connected with the industry

and to attract attention to the o| > port unit ies for
development of our mineral resources. The
volume is exceptionally well illustrated with
colored plates, half-tones and line cuts. A
large number of mineral specimens are shown
iu natural size and color, these plates includ-
ing some of the best reproductions of ore that
have ever been printed. Numerous maps
show in what parts of Canada known mineral
areas are situated. Detail maps show some of
the most active mining districts. Photographs
of plants and the men in charge of mining and
metallurgical works are numerous. The vol-
ume is attractively bound in cloth. The page
is large, 8." x 11", to permit the use of the col-
ored plates and maps and to allow illustrations
to be run closely to their text.

This edition being published about the end of
the year, it has been possible to give a prelimin-
ary summary of progress during 1918. The
recently published official records for the year
1917 are also summarized. Some of the import-
ant developments during 1918 are then briefly
referred to.

In the section of the book devoted to mine
products an attempt has been made to present
some useful information concerning the char-
acter, use and occurrence of each mineral. The
minerals are treated in alphabetical order, and
the amount of space given to them varies. Ow-
ing to the great demand recently for informa-
tion concerning certain minerals and metals.
special attention is given to "war minerals,"
such as maguesite, fluorite, pyrite, molybden-
ite, etc.

If the mineral is produced in considerable
quantity, there is given information concerning
nature and composition of the mineral, places
of occurrence in Canada, methods of mining
and treating the ore, selling prices during 1918
and uses. If the production is very large, or
of special importance, as in the case of coal
in Nova Scotia, Alberta and British Columbia ;
gold, silver and nickel in Ontario; asbestos,
chromite, magnesite and molybdenite in Que-
bec; copper, lead and zinc in British Colum-
bia, several pages are devoted to the industry.

A second large section of the book is de-
voted to mining and metallurgical companies
operating in Canada. In each case is given the
office address and the location of the property
and the name of the manager. In most cases
capitalization, names of directors, officers, na-
ture of operations, recent financial statement
and record of production during the last year
are given. The companies are treated in al-
phabetical order.

Another feature of the book is a list of the
companies classified according to product.
("Canadian Mining Manual. 1918," edited by
Reginald E. Hore. Mines Publishing Company,
Toronto, $5.)

(il

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

January, 1019.

A Novel of Hate for Hatred

THERE have of late years been those am-
ongst us who have sought to erect hatred
into one of the cardinal virtues — hatred
of individuals, hatred of a uation, not the im-
personal and eminently righteous hatred which
loathes the sin while leaving it to God to judge
the sinner. It has been surmised that "Q"
(Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch I wrote his latest
novel, "Foe-Farrell." with the express inten-
tion of combatting this new gospel of implac-
ability; and it is true that in the epilogue to
his masterly study of the psychological effects
of hatred upon both subject and object he does
make an immediate application to "this blast-
ed war." Says Major Sir Roderick Otway, who
has told the tale in a series of quiet evenings, to
his fellow-officers in their common dug-out:
"As I see it, the more you beat Fritz by becom-
ing like him, the more he has won." And it is
true also that a perusal of this tale, and a care-
ful scrutiny (such as the perusal will inevit-
ably suggest) of the lives of men and women
whom we ourselves personally know, who have
allowed the motive of hatred to become active
and predominant in their lives, will bring
forcibly before us the deterioration of
character which hatred brings about. This is
one strong reason why "Foe-Farrell" may be
commended to those who are in search of a
good novel for a Christmas gift. It is a book
whose influence cannot fail to be for the bet-
terment of the spirit. Another reason is that
"Q" is one of the few authors of the present
day who, having a very enthralling tale to tell,
can still be trusted to preserve the niceties of
a just literary style amid all the excitement.
And the third reason is that "Foe-Farrell" :
precisely an enthralling tale.

Foe is the hater and Farrell the hated. In
the beginning the right is absolutely, incontest-
ably, on the side of Foe. While his wound is
fresh he would be justified (since we do not
ask for cool judgment and self-restraint from

men who are in exquisite suffering) in almost
any form of attack against his base and coward-
ly opponent. But it is a law of nature that Time
must heal all things, and that that which Time
cannot heal is not fit for life; and Foe refuses
to be healed. He has money and leisure, and
he sets himself to the deliberate task of making
existence intolerable for Farrell. He converts
his hatred into an art, playing with exquisite
skill upon all the weakest ner\es of Farrell 's
system, and when Farrell, through the unsel-
fish love of a woman, is on the point of rising
to the utmost of his capabilities and making
himself and his life worth while. Foe inter-
venes and hurls him down to the depths. Fin-
ally, by an act of calculated baseness of which
the pre-hatred Foe would have been utterly
incapable, he abandons Farrell alone upon a
desert island (the story of the shipwreck and of
the drifting boats with the survivors is one of
the finest things that "Q" has evei tvritten),
and thus surrenders all the moral advantage
which he ever had over his adversary. And as
the character of Foe deteriorates under the in-
fluence of the hatred-virus, so the character of
Farrell. partly as the result of his unjustified
persecution, gradually strengthens in some re-
spects, and the ultimate catastrophe is preci-
pitated by an act of singular generosity on his
part, which maddens the now obsessed Foe to
the point of actual murder.

"We do not believe that this tale was set go-
ing in Sir Arthur's mind by any propagandist
motive. It is too good a tale for that, told with
too much zest and too racy an interest, not in
its moral, but in its matter. Hatred is always a
profoundly interesting subject to the psychol-
ogist, and there is plenty of it even in times
of peace. An author like Sir Arthur does not
write his important novels as if they were pam-
phlets or tracts for the times, which is no rea-
son why they should not be timely. (Macmillan,
Toronto. $1.50)

Notre Dame de Montreal

I enter those great doors,

And all around me is so dim and still,

I fear to tread the floors

Lest my own footsteps in the treading will

Cry out my presence there;

And. for I feel so small in that great place.

I do not even dare

To look about me, but would fain efface

Myself in some back pew,

And see the kneeling figures at their prayer.

And candles, lit anew;

The smell of incense in the shadow'd air;

The straggling light of day;

The saints that look down calmly from the

wall ;
\nd — more than I can say —
The nameless Silence that is over all .

Margaret Hilda Wise.

January, L919

CANADIAN Hook 1/ 1 \

A New Birmingham

SI >.\1 B people, when the} go oul lor a walk,
like a companion who will take them by
the most direct possible route to the
place where they want to go. Others like a
companion who is not sure that they want to
go anywhere, and who will take them wander-
ni- all round the adjacent country and dilate
upon the beauties oS tihe wayside flowei-B,
the architecture of the houses, the culinary
(tract iees of the inhabitants as revealed by
chimney-smokes, and kiteheii-door aromas.
Taste in story-tellers varies in much the same
way. Those who like the divagatory method
like "George A. Birmingham," and there is no
denying the Irish charm of his comments by
the way. Canon Haimay is a "natural born"
story-teller, ami can weave a plot — enough of
a plot to carry his gentle meandering narra-
tive— upon any foundation of circumstances
that may be given him ; so it is not surprising to
find him romancing mihlly and pleasantly
about the war. "The Island Mystery" is not
particularly good literature, certainly not com-
parable witli its author's best work, such as
"Spanish Gold-' or that exquisitely whimsical
yet gently satirical play, "General John Re-
gan"; but it will while an hour very ingra-
tiatingly, and will leave a few enlightening re-
flections in the reader's mind. It deals with
an American pacifist millionaire, his daughter
Daisy, who wants to be a real queen, an Irish
M.P., with a keen eye for 20 p.c. commissions,
King Konrad Karl of Megalia, a villain in the
person of von Moll of the Kaiser's secret ser-
vice, and a hero in the person of Captain
Phillips, of the British Merchant Marine.
These disport themselves upon an island which
the American millionaire buys from Konrad
Karl in order that his daughter may have
something to be queen of, and the action takes
place in and near August, 1914. Enough said.
One is left with the feeling that Mr. Oppen-
heim could have done something like this much
better, and that Canon Hannay could have
done something much better, but quite differ-
ent. This in spite of the fact that there are
many pages bearing the authentic Hannay
touch of humor, which Mr. Oppenheim could
not begin to approach in a lifetime, and that
Konrad Karl's passion for twisting the English
idiom is genuinely' and exquisitely ludicrous.
(McClelland, Goodchild & Stewart, Toronto,
$1.50).

A Vancouver Novel

IF the amateur novelists and poets of British
Columbia (who appear to be somewhat
numerous) had one-half as much of techni-
cal skill as they have of enthusiasm for the
beauties of their glorious Province, they would
be a formidable band of artists. But high ro-
mantic beauty in a landscape is a positive dan-
ger to those inexperienced writers who at-
tempt to portray that beauty or to suggest that

romai in verse or tale. Familiar them-'

w nil the aesthetic effeel of the place v.
their imagined comedy or tragedy occulta,

they think that that effeel can be conveyed to
the ordinary reader- |,\ a few place names
and a I'ew conventional adj.- 1

Vl ouver. is beyond all doubt the world's

ideal spot for love niakiu<_' in a canoe; but the
reader who has not 8een :t will hardly imag-
111. it from Robert Allison Hood's description
of its charms at sundown :

The Bhimmerlng lints of crimson and violet and

3 .li..w and sold; il \- r:i.i-

iance gradually dies away, the dark blues and ] ur-

of tin- lolls outlined I he sky; the f;

ing li-lii^ of tli'' fishin th.!

on; .-in. I then, i full of ^'aple,

behind, the town nil cheery with its str.-.-t lamps

ana its countless gleaming win. lows.

All of these things are common to several
thousand other bays on the world's surface,
and strangely fail 1.1 evoke the characteristic
quality of English Bay. Nor does the enumer-
ation of such names as "Second Beach," "Fer-
guson Pont." "Stanley Park." "Point At-
kinson" do any more for us. though to the
writer those terms are doubtless loaded with
poetic significance, derived from his personal
experiences. It is always the amateur in
water-colors, who selects as subject the old
family homestead where he or she was brought
up. or the little island where they picnicked
in summer and where love's young dream
first shed its rosy light ; thereby trying to
make local sentiment do the work that should
be done by art. The professional carefully se-
lects his subject not for any adventitious ro-
mance which it may possess in his mind and his
alone, but for its pure representable beauty,
and sets himself to portray that heauty just
as if he had never seen the place before and
never made love or been made love to in the
midst of it. To do that he needs technique, in
literature just as much as in water-colors, and
the above extract will show that Mr. Hood has
not the technique. His novel is called "The
Chivalry of Keith Leicester," and is as ama-
teur in character-drawing and action as in de-
scription. (McClelland, Goodchild & Stewart,
Toronto, $1.50).

Courage and Audacity?

WHETHER it was courage or audacitj
which led to the decision to offer to the
Canadian and American public an Ei
lish translation of the early novel, "L'Enfer,"
by the famous author of "Under Fire," is a
question which must be decided by the reader
after he has formed his opinion of the merits
and sincerity of the book; it was certainly one
or the other. This astonishing novel has had
an immense vogue in France, owing in part to
the unashamed nakedness of some of its epi-
sodes, but in part also to its undeniable and to
some minds attractive philosophy. It should
be added that a good many pages of the book

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

January, 1919.

are utterly impossible of general publication in
English, and are omitted without much indica-
tion to the English reader of what he may be
missing. How far these ultra-frank portions

of the narrative may be n ssary to convey the

full value of Henri Barbusse's philosophy, it
is a little difficult to tell when one has read the
French version before the English, as in the
case of the present critic. Certainly the book
is not one to be read in English by anybody
who can possibly read it in French; but that
has somewhat the air of a general statement
which might be applied to all translations. "The
Inferno" is the record, in autobiographic form,
of two or three months spent by a neurotic, im-
aginative and analytical young Frenchman in a
Paris lodging house where his room possesses a
concealed hole in the wall which enables him to
observe everything which goes on in the ad-
jacent apartment. Such a device, capable of
being used for a tale of the baldest animalism,
is also capable of being used for the exposition
of a picture of human life as it might be seen
by a piece of furniture, or rather by a non-
human spirit confined to a single spot and pos-
sessing but a single sense, that of sight, and
beholding only the isolated event of a moment or
of an hour, without any of the processes which
lead up to and follow it. And so seen, life has
a new aspect, an aspect which will be repugnant
to most people, but which is undeniably inter-
esting— an aspect of almost mechanical inevit-
ability, of cruelty, of intense isolation of the
human individual, of a meaningless aud bar-
barous repetition of animal processes. The
kinship with the philosophy of "Under Fire"
is unmistakeable, a philosophy of revolt against
the compulsion which drives the spirit of man,
capable of such soaring flights, through the
dreary round of the necessities of the flesh.
"He perceives," says Edward J. O'Brien, the
translator, in a clever little Introduction, "that
each man is an island of illimitable forces apart
from his fellows, passionately eager to live his
own life to the last degree of self -fulfilment,
but continually thwarted by nature and by
other men and women, until death interposes
and sets the seal of oblivion upon all that he
has dreamed and sought." Such a book is not
to be hastily dismissed for going too far, nor
its translation for not going far enough. (Mus-
sou, Toronto, $1.50.)

Good to Walk the World With

Good to walk the world with,

Such a mate!
Good to love and live with,

Soon and late.

Good to take God's sending,

Though it be
But a by-path wending

To the sea.

Good to walk the path with.

Such a friend!
Good to sail the sea with.

At the end.

— Carroll Aikins, "Poems."

A Literary Elephant Piling Logs

THEODORE Dreiser, as an American writer
has already remarked, does not do him-
self justice when he attempts to write
short stories; but that is far from saying his
short stories in the volume "Free, And Other
Stories" are not worth reading. Perhaps
they fail from the point of view of the people
to whom short stories are a mere means of
titilating their rather feeble consciousnesses in
the intervals between working, eating, sleep-
ing and exploring sex. They are not of the
kind designed to whip the flagging interest
of the tired servant girl ; nor the paregoric
to soothe minds that might otherwise discover
their own vacuity. They are not outstanding
good examples of the story-telling art. But
they are acceptable and readable comments on
life — and on Mr. Theodore Dreiser; especially
Mr. Dreiser.

Dreiser — to paraphrase an American ad-
mirer of his — requires a large canvass. He
is no painter of miniatures, though occasional-
ly he does a bit of excellent character draw-
ing in a short paragraph. He is obviously a
German-American, with the German clumsi-
ness, slowness, patience, and the American
wistful sincerity and obsession with the things
of sex. He works like an elephant piling
logs, but the logs are interesting and well-
piled. In the short story he is cramped for
room. His sincerity will not allow him to use
the short-cuts, the stagey devices, the "ef-
fective" arrangements of the brilliant short-
story writer. He spurns invention and
stalks solemnly ahead with his record of truth
as he sees it.

These short stories reveal Dreiser in the
same way that an intellectual's attempt at
small talk in a parlour usually reveals the
intellectual. His style is not musical. His
construction is not neat, but there remain a
certain shrewd but kindly insight into human
motives and a certain dogged sincerity in re-
cording them. Only occasionally he forgets to
remain detached from his stories. He is more
a student, awed a bit by the procession of life
as he sees it, than an artist. That other mod-
ern American, Ilergcsheimer, is more the artist.
Dreiser's hand is a bit thumby. He sometimes
forgets that there are people in the world who
have outlived the distressing manifestations
of early sex impulses. But Dreiser is sincere,
shrewd and able in his big round way, and no
mean figure in the little world of real Ameri-
can letters.

It might be said of him that he is apparently
probing always for what is universal, not what
is exceptional. In this book of short stories,
for example, there are not individualities such
as a Dickens presents. Dreiser scorns the
novel, the melodramatic and is arrested only by
some new and glowing symbol of the human,
the constant, the universal. Sometimes he
holds up as universal something not so at all.
The first story "Free," fails on that account.
"McEwen of the Slave-makers" is merely an

1910.

CANADIA \ BOOK \l I \

experiment. 'Bui "The Second Choice,"
"Nigger Jeff," "The Losl Phoebe," and ' Old
Rogaum and His Theresa these ring true.
"Tlie Losl Phoebe" and "Old Rogautrt and Bis
Theresa" have a nicely restrained tenderness
that places them in a high class. "A Story nf
Stories" is the besl newspaper tale the presenl
writer has read hut that leaves il Ear below
the other just mentioned. "Will Sou Walk
into my Parlor, " is interesting, bul not excep
tional. The stori.s toward the hack are, even
I'm- Dreiser, dull; ho has not articulated his
idea. But Dreiser himself is too unusual
among Amer can writers to b< idemned for

a dull moment or two. It is g 1 to read an

American who never tries to he brilliant, who
is just a patient, wise and honest draftsman
of life as he sees it. i Musson, Toronto, $1.50 .

A Canadian's Beautiful Book

IT is not often that a Canadian author en-
joys the privilege of seeing his work pro-
duced in such exquisite printed form as
that in which the Bodley Head (in Canada, S.
B. Gundy i has embodied "Canadian Wonder
Tales," by Cyrus Maemillan. The score or
mole of rich color illustrations by George
Sheringham, one of the English painters who
are most deft in designing for modern color-
reproduction processes, would alone engage
the attention of the seeker after fine bookcraft.
even without the special Canadian interest of
the subject-matter and the Foreword by Sir
William Peterson, K.C.M.G. The latter docu-
ment reveals the fact, which will be no news
to many Montrealers, and to students of Can-
adian folklore generally, that Captain Mae-
millan, the author of this volume, is a soldier-
student, who interrupted his teaching work
in Montreal to go overseas with one of the
McGill Batteries, and who completed the tran-
scription and arrangement of the Tales in the
intervals between periods of artillery activity
"Somewhere in France." The author's method,
says Principal Peterson, resembles that of the
Brothers Grimm. He lias taken down from
the lips of living people "a series of stories
which obviously contain many elements that
have been handed down by oral tradition from
some far-off past." Most of them are animal
stories, in which the fox. the bear, the beaver
and the eagle speak with human tongues and
exhibit many human qualities. Some contain
mythical explanations of the origin of natural
phenomena, such as the Northern Lights. The
book is designed primarily to interest children ;
but even they, we should have supposed, would
have appreciated some hint of the sources of
the respective stories, which appear on the sur-
face to be partly Indian (of many different
tribes!, partly Eskimo, and partly primitive
French-Canadian, but are not accompanied by
any information which would enable us to
distinguish one class from the other. Pos-
sibly ^Captain Maemillan proceeds on the
theory that if Canadian children are nourished

upon the substance of Canadian folklore in

their early youth, thej will develop an inter

est in its origins and signifieai when they

reach mature years; Inn this tl ry should not

have prevented him from giving some Blight
historical explanation even in the present vol
umc, which we conceive is one thai will be
treasured and referred to for many years by

such children as have the freshness of mind
to appreciate it.

The talcs are narrated with wonderful sim-
plicity and directness, and without the taint

est suspicion of moralising or didactiveness

precisely, In fact, as the primitive narrators
who have handed on the oral tradition would
tell them in t In- i- own wigwams or cabanes or
Air. Sheringham \s illustrations, while
highly decorative and full of technical skill,
contain no attempt at realistic local color, but
considering the nature and purpose of the book
we are not disposed to make tiiat a subject of
reproach. II s style is wonderfully delicate and
refined, and those who wish their children to
form then- earliest conception of the primi-
tive inhabitants of Canada in a thoroughly
poetic atmosphere — an atmosphere of mists
ami stars and aurora shot through with magic
and wonderment — cannot do better than to
place in their hands this collection of Wonder
Tales. iS. 11. Gundy, Toronto.) *

For Children Over Thirty

FOR children who have graduated from the
class in Aubrey Beardsley and taken their
first lessons in Van Gogh, we know of no
better volume for the succeeding stage of
their instruction than "The Rhynie Garden,"
by Marguerite Buller Allan, a well known
artist and poet of Montreal. That few children
reach this stage of taste-development before
the age of thirty in no wise affects the issue.
Mrs. Allan's volume conveys in some mysteri-
ous manner the impression of being intended
for children, but nowhere does she suggest that
it is intended for young children — say those
under thirty. We tried it on one young man
of nine and found him extremely contemptp-
ous, but this proves nothing save the spread of
Philistinism among the rising generation.
Some children of over thirty may feel a cer-
tain hesitancy about purchasing "The Rhyme
Garden.'' for their own enjoyment, on ac-
count of its obvious lack of solemnity of pur-
pose; to all such we would recommend that
they buy it as a Christmas present for some
juvenile child in the household, and then sur-
reptitiously abstract it while the juvenile is
occupied with some more exciting gift, It is
ten to one that the juvenile will not miss it.
and a hundred to one that the donor will be
overjoyed to get it back. Mrs. Allan's wildly
exuberant extravagances of color and line
familar to a good many Canadians from her
exhibit in recent art shows) are a delight to
the sophisticated eye. and her verse is thor-
oughly in keeping with their fantastic play-

(18

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

January, 1919.

fulness. There are eight color plates and a
large number of black-and-white decorations
in the text. The flavor of the verses is better
given by a sample than by any amount of 'de-
scription:

THE SUARECKUW.

The scarecrow watched the moon come up
And laughed both long and loud,

The timid, disconcerted moon,
Sank back behind a cloud.

And when the morning sun shone out,

The scarecrow mocked the sun,
He laughed so much the ears of wheat,

Joined gaily in his fun.

"The splendid sun and stately moon,

Why do you jeer at these,
Whose beauty every poet sings ? ' '

I asked him. "Tell me, please."

The scarecrow in a softened mood

Wept very bitterly.
He said, "I have to laugh at them,

Or they would laugh at me.' '

The same idea is repeated in another form
in the verses entitled: "The Disagreeable Bull-
dog,'' which tell us how the bulldog mocked at
the half-shaved poodle, and "cared not in the
least" when that sensitive animal grieved and
wept:

He just continued mocking him;

You never would have guessed
How much he envied in his heart,

The way the poodle dressed!

Is it too much to conjecture that these alle-
geries contain the artistic profession of faith
of Mrs. Buller Allan, and her fellow innova-
tors at recent Canadian picture-shows? Is she
notifying the Philistines that they cannot laugh
at her, according to the rules of the game, be-
cause she and her art have first laughed at
them? s. B. Gundy, Toronto).

Fighting France

AMONG the propaganda volumes of the
year 1918 (whose book lists on this con-
tinent have been largely made up of vol-
umes issued with the primary intent of ad-
vancing the sympathy and understanding be-
tween different nations of the anti-Teutonic
alliance, and especially between the United
States and her various colleagues), there are
few with more claim to a permanent place in
literature than "Fighting France," by Ste-
phane Lauzanne, lieutenant in the French
Army, Chevalier of the Legion of Honor, edi-
tor-in-chief of Le Matin, and this year a mem-
ber of the French Mission to the United
States. M. Lauzanne, though a journal'st by
profession, is also an artist in language ; the
two things are less incompatible in France
than in most English-speaking countries. He
does not, however, write in English, and the
translation of the present volume, by John L.
B. Williams, a former fellow of Princeton,
shows occasional traces of undue hurry, such
■as tlir meaningless literalism: "articles (of the

Hague Convention; which . . . offer a pro-
digious interest to actuality." Generally
speaking, however, the peqfeet clarity and
simplicity of M. Lauzanne 's writings shows
clearly enough through the translation.

Part of the book is devoted to an exposition
of France's war aims, and is of the highest in-
terest at the moment when this review is be
ing written. M. Lauzanne dwells upon some
of the difficulties surrounding the project of
the League of Nations, and shows how many
sentimentalists have overlooked one absolute
prerequisite which the President laid down for-
cibly enough. This is the condition embodied
in President "Wilson's statement that "no auto-
cratic government could be trusted to keep
faith within a partnership of nations or ob-
serve its covenants." A Germany still militar-
istic is, to M. Lauzanne, a Germany with whom
no League is possible. And he proposes that
the Allies use their economic power to break
down Germany's militarism if Germany does
not break it down herself. Let the Allies say
to Germany, he suggests: "As long as you
have a military and naval budget of four hun-
dred millions of dollars, we regret that we shall
be unable to sell you wool and copper. "We re-
gret that we shall be unable to buy anything
from you. But, if you reduce this budget by
half, we are willing to give you one million
metric quintals of wool and 125,000 tons of
copper." And so on, increasing the permitted
volume of trade with every reduction in the
German war machine. (McClelland, Goodchild
& Stewart, Toronto, $1.50).

Lt.-Col. L. G. Desjardins' book entitled
" 1/Angleterre, le Canada et la Grande
Guerre," which rapidly passed through two
editions in the original French, has now been
translated into English under the title of
"England, Canada and the Great War." It
is an able statement of the views of that con-
siderable element of the French-Canadian
population which heartily supports the action
of Canada in going into the war to the limit of
its powers and resources, and while its au-
thor's chief object in writing the original ver-
sion was to set before his French-speaking
countrymen a more correct view of the inter-
national situation than that which had been
most noisily brought to their attention by a
section of their press (a function which was
evidently fulfilled with some success), the
present translation will be of value for the
purpose of showing English-speaking readers
the point of view of a pro-war "Canadien."
The translation, unfortunately, is far from be-
ing idiomatic, and does not do justice to Col-
mud Desjardins' style. In substance the book
is. by the very nature of its origin, negative
and critical rather than constructive — a cor-
rective of Bourassism rather than an all-round
exposition of Canadianism. At the beginning
of this year there was occasion for such a
negative, and corrective work, but the need
can scarcely be permanent.

1919.

Canadian booh m \ \

The Cow Puncher

ROBERT J. C. Stead stands oul somewhal
from among the younger generation of
residenl Canadian novelists, in spite of
being as much addicted as any of thera to the
Wild Wesl lo, -airs so favi ured by our Am-
erican cinematograph friends, owing to a cer-
tain unmistakeable sincerity of literary pur
pose. Whether this sincerity is any greal as
sistance for the production of a frankly melo-
dramatic frontier novel is open to some doubt,
Imii it will certainly be of value when Mr.
Stead takes to the portrayal of more normal
and more accurately observed Canadian life.
At present he creates the impression of a
man who is rather reluctantlj and warily
grinding the handle of a well-worn Ameri-
can patent novel-producer, guaranteed to turn
out a readable story upon the insertion of the
proper ingredients, but needing for its best
effects the masterful grip of a Jack London or
a Rex Beach. Mr. Stead has both the advan-
tage and the disadvantage of knowing his.
Canadian West very well indeed as it is to-day.
This makes it easy for him to give a life-like
and sincere picture of the normal, every-day,
routine events which make up most of the life
even of a Westerner at this advanced date in
"Canada's Century,*' but difficult for him to
daub his canvas convincingly with the very
thick and juicy "romantic" colours demanded
by the patron of the true Wild WTest novel and
movie-show. In some respects, therefore, "The
Cow Puncher," Mr. Stead's third and latest
novel, falls between two stools. It is both
the best and the worst thing one can say
about it. that it would make up well into a
moving-picture scenario.

Mr. Stead's recipe as employed in this novel
may be told in a few words. First catch a
ranch-hand, young, first-class horseman, inno-
cent of the wiles of the world, and endowed
with a fine vocabulary of Western slang and
an inability to comprehend any other lan-
guage. Then bring on a pretty young woman
who has accident in car, necessitating her
staying at the ranch to tend father with
broken leg. Mix well and leave to simmer
until youthful rancher has glimpses of the
higher life. Hero breaks into newspaper re-
porting, passes thence into real estate in the
good old days before tax sales filled whole
pages of the western papers — and makes his
pile. Re-enter pretty girl of first chapter who,
however, gets involved — oh, quite innocently
— with hero's partner, the bad man of the
novel. Hero begins to find out that real es-
tate millions have their drawbacks and has
qualms of conscience. The war then becomes a
factor, and brings to an end the usual current
of cross-purposes between hero and heroine
which is necessary for the novelist's objects;
for the war performs the same function as in

John Murray Gibbon's novel of bringing the
pair t > a better understanding of our an
other's higher natures, ami the hero enlists,

ROBERT J. C. STEAD,
Author of "The Cow Puncher."

marries the heroine, and sends her hack from
England to grow wheat on the old ranch for
the Empire's needs. The conclusion is well
told, but it is too good and too sincere a con-
elusion to seem fitting at the end of a tale in
which the mechanical appliances of the liter-
ary journeyman of melodrama — the frequent
gunplay, the unmitigated villain, the deep dark
plot, the secret war between the "interests,"
the frequent accident and the long arm of co-
incidence—have been so assiduously em-
ployed. It is a conclusion worthy of a bigger
conception — worthy perhaps of the bigger
novel which Mr. Stead is even now preparing
to write. This is how it is told, and it is a good
sample of the style of our Western novelist-
poet : "And so, in that little white-washed
home, where the brown hills rise around and
the placid mountains look down from the dis-
tance, and a tongue of spruce trees beyond
the_ stream stands sentinel against the open
prairie, she is carrying on. not in despondency
and bitterness, but in service and hope. And
so her sisters, all this world over, must carry
on. until their sweetness and their sacrifice
shall fill up and flood over all the valleys of
hate . . . And if von should chance that
way. and if you should win the confidence of
young Three-year-old. he may stand for you
and say. with his voice filled with the honor
and glory and the pride of it. 'My father was
a soldier. He was killed at Courcelette. ' "
(Musson, Toronto. $1.50.)

CANADIAN HOOK MAN

January. 1 !>10.

The Canadian Annual Review

yX one particular point of bookishness Can-
adians can afford to h ild their heads high
in the presence of almost any other nation-
als (useful word, that — one of the few really
desirable vocables added to the English lan-
guage, or at least to the commonly accepted
part of the English language, as a result of
the wan. We have an annual review of our
own Canadian affairs, which is notably super-
ior in completeness, selectiveness, arrangement
and convenience to that of any other country.
It is true that the range of affairs to be re-
viewed is narrower in Canada than in such a
country as the United States or Great Britain;
but nevertheless it is no inconsiderable
achievement to bring all the important busi-
ness even of Canada, within the scope-of a 050-
page v lume as effectively as does Mr. Cas-
tell Hopkins in "The Canadian Annual Re-
view (1917)", just issued from the press of
the Canadian Annual Review, Limited ($6).
As almost all Canadian book-buyers and lib-
rary-users are familiar with the scope and use-
fulness of this publication it is not necessary
to enlarge upon it: but for those few who are
not thus familiar we would merely say that
there is practically nothing which has been
done or said, in any way affecting Canada, in
tlie twentieth century, which is not to be
found duly recorded in the seventeen volumes
of this unique publication. That a good many
of the things thus recorded, especially at elec-
tion times, are things which we would willing-
ly let perish, does not affect the value of the
book: they will not perish, whatever we may
wish concerning them, and when by the ef-

flux of time we arrive at a sufficient dis-
tance from them we may derive profit and
edification even from the record of our own
errors.

J. CASTELL HOPKINS,
Author of the Canadian Annual Review.

A Door That Leads Nowhere

ALAN Sullivan's book, "The Inner Door,"
is not a good book. Only the fact that
Sullivan is a Canadian, lives in Toronto,
and has told a number of good Esquimaux
stories in his volume "The Passing of Ool-i-
but," makes it even necessary to say so. The
upstanding and unpardonable sin of this last
work of Sullivan's is its insincerity. The au-
thor has no real sympathy with any theme in
his book except the sex theme. That, in itself,
might pass if it were not so clear that the pre-
tentious pretended •'study" of labor prob-
lems in a Canadian factory has obviously been
dragged in to offset the sex theme and to give
the book the appearance of having an intel-
lectual appeal which it hasn't. Sullivan tells
a low-life Love story, passing well. His pen
warms up when dealing with the alarms of
waking adolescence. Even at that it goes a bit
mad and traces such absurdities in this new

1 k as "His throat grew stiff and parched.

The girl was terrifically potent and from her
]i ured the ever-amazing appeal of her child-
bearing sisterhood " Ho-hum!

But if this author would stick to self-con-
- tious love-makings and the pathological
symptoms of aboriginal passion — his heroe's
minds never seem illumined in these exalted
and exhausting periods — he would hold at
Least one audience. Student of sociology or
economics he is not. In attempting such things
he betrays laziness in observation, lack of
sympathy or real insight into the hearts of the
struggling poor — and succeeds only in making
one feel that he is faking clumsily.

Toronto may indeed be dull, but not so pow-
erful a soporific as Mr. Sullivan dispenses
when he attempts to describe any phase of its
life. "Ool-i-but" was not so very bad. The
plots were good to begin with. But "The In-
ner Door" is distressing. (Gundy, Toronto,
$1.35.)

January, 1919.

CANADIAh BOOK U I \

Canada's First Publishing House

A HISTORY AND AN APPRECIATION
By E. J. MOORE

WHEN Egerton Ryerson, al a Methodisl
Conference in Ancaster, Wentworth

County, Ontario, in L829, persuaded

a number of his brother preachers thai

a denominational newspaper was advisable and

induced them to subscribe for stock in the

new institution at $20 each, he and they
surely had little idea that less than a centurj
afterward the publishing business then in-
augurated would grow to have a turnover of

approximately a million dollars a year, and

would he housed in one of the finest and largest

publishing h o m e s

on the continent.

And yet, this is

identically w h a t

has occurred.

With the money
subscribed by his
brethren and him-
self, R\ erson rod1
to New York on
horseback shortly
afterward, p u r -
chased type and
presses, and on
November 21 of the
same year the first
number of The
Christian Guardian
was issued. This
was the direct be-
ginning of Canada 's
pioneer publishing
house. It apparent-
ly became early evi-
dent that the insti-
tution was to fill a
large place. A reso-
lution of the Con-
ference the follow-
ing year provided
for the change in
The Christian
Guardian fro m
quarto to folio form,
"making it the larg-
est paper published in the province except the
Kingston Chronicle." The expenses were an-
nounced as being over $60 a week ! We are
not told whether this included the editor's
salary, but the encouraging statement was made
that if the amounts due — over $2,000 — were paid
up, all claims would be met.

The book-selling and book-publishing depart-
ments of the business came along naturally in
the ordinary course of events, with the develop-
ment of business in the province. It was found,
for instance, that The Guardian office was a

REV. WILLIAM
The Venerakle

convenient place m which the preachers and
members of the Church mighl secure what hooks
they wished, and consequently a stock of Bibles,

hymn hooks, and a limited number of such theo-
logical and religious volumes as were then likely
to he in demand, was provided.

Apparently the amounts <\\\r were paid up.
In any event The Guardian prospered. largely,
perhaps, owing to the fact that its editor, Ryer-
son, believed it his duty to devote a good deal
of time and space to the reporting of political
news. Through this, the journal soon became

one of the influ-
ential organs of the
Dominion.

Prosperity along
financial lines was
apparently also in
evidence, for before

the passing of many

years, the accrued
profitsvof the busi-
ness made possible
the repayment of
amounts originally
subscribed by the
p r e a c h e r s, and
around this hinges
a notable fact,
namely, that Can-
ada's largest pub-
lishing house has
actually no capital
stock! As then, the
same policy has
been followed since.
Accrued profits
have been put into
the business from
war to year, and
this has led, as noted
above, to the estab-
lishment of one of
the finest manufac-
turing and publish-
ing plants in Am-
15 erica.
As time went on, the scope of the House was
naturally enlarged. It became evident, after a
little time, that it was a poor policy to allow
machinery which was used for the printing of
The Guardian and other periodicals which were
subsequently established to stand idle. Conse-
quently, the directors of the business began to
do commercial work as printers and manufac-
turers. With the concurrence of the church,
this policy has been maintained until now the
printing plant, comprising some twenty lino-
type machines and some twenty-four evlinder

BRIGGS, D.D.
Book Steward.

CANADIAN BOO KM AS

January, 1919.

presses, is kept occupied turning out the twenty-
three periodicals and the numerous books issued
by the house, as well as the work of other church
departments, and in the way suggested above,
as commercial printers.

When the demand for out-and-out Canadian
books began to materialize, it was very natural
that the Methodist Book and Publishing House,
with the requisite plant and equipment, should
be interested. Various difficulties in the way
of cheap importations, high-priced paper and
other conditions, which still, by the way, largely
prevail, made the situation a somewhat trouble-
some one to face. However, the House has al-
ways had a most strong interest in matters Can-
adian, and at that time, as ever since, all pos-
sible encouragement was given to Canadian
authors and Canadian books. Along in the
eighties, this matter of book publication had
grown to the extent of warranting a special
department, and E. S. Caswell, now secretary
of the Public Library Board in Toronto, was
brought from his position in the shipping de-
partment, and given charge of this work.

Our early Canadiana owes a good deal to the
encouragement of the House, which to a large
extent believed in producing Canadian books,
even if at times, the probability for large com-
mercial returns did not seem to be bright. A
page might be taken in listing books such, for
instance, as Mrs. Traill's "Pearls and Pebbles,"
' ' Studies in Plant Life, " " Canadian Wild Flow-
ers," Campbell's "Dread Voyage," and others
of the type which now stand as classics in our

ITS HOME.

The Methodist Book and Publishing
Queen and John streets, To

libraries. Naturally, a good many of the books
issued in those days, as' since, were volumes o±
local history and biography, and in these we
have presented to us the foundations not only
of Canadian history, but of our succeeding arts
and letters.

Later still, as the book-selling end of the
business continued to develop, a separate de-
part ment was established to look after the sales
to the retail booksellers, and the institution thus
became one of the earliest wholesale or jobbing
houses in Canada. Naturally, it was not pos-
sible to carry this on solely with local produc-
tions, and in consequence importations from
Great Britain and the United States were also
utilized.

When one gets this far in outlining the activi-
ties of the business, the query usually arises
as to what becomes of the profits of an insti-
tution conducted on such an unusual basis, and
thereby hangs an interesting story. The Meth-
odist Book and Publishing House, of course, is
the property of the Methodist Church. Just r.o
what branch of the Church it belongs, or in
v. hat way it is owned, is somewhat of a moot
question, and one for which the answer has
ni ver definitely been called. However, soon
after the institution got on its feet financially,
a proportionate amount was set aside from the
profits every year to a fund which is used for
the support of the worn-out Methodist preach-
ers, their wives and children. No individual
has ever received a penny directly from the
profits of the business, and what profits have

been made have been
regularly and con-
tinuously divided as
already suggested,
one portion going to
the upbuilding and
maintenance of the
business, and the
other to this "Super-
annuation Fund," as
it is called, for the
aid of the Methodist
preachers.

Another question
w h i c h frequently
crops up is, "How is
the business conduct-
ed? Who is respons-
ible for it?"

While the business
is practically run as
any other, by a board
of directors and a
manager, these of-
ficials are not bv any
means denoted *"■
such in the anna's
of the institution. At
the General Confer-
ence of tlie Methodist
Church, which meets
House, corner quadrcnuiallv. t h P

ronto. board of directors

January, 1919.

C I Y.m/.I.Y BOOK l/. I \

or a "Book Committee" which is responsible for
the management of the institution Eor the suc-
ceeding Eour years, is elected. At the same time
a "Book Steward," really the managing direc-
tor, is elected, who is more directly responsible.
The Book Committee meets annually, with a
semi-annual executive session, supervising the
policy of the Book steward, as dues any other
similar body in other business,

Quite as familiarly known, perhaps even more
so, than the name "Methodist Book and Pub-
lishing House." is the name "BriggS." Thirty-
six years ago, the Rev. William BriggS, who had

made a name for himself in pastorates in the
most important churches in Canada, was elected
Book Steward. And so practically have his
efforts and his policies in conducting the busi-
ness appealed to his brother preachers and the
members of the church generally, that he is still
in office, although his resignation, to take effect
next summer, has been handed in to the Annual
Conference, and was regretfully accepted.
Under Dr. Briggs, the business has developed
into the large place
in Canadian business
affairs it now oc-
cupies, and largely
under his guidance,
the publication side
of the business as
devoted to books has
been developed. It
may safely be said
that it was largely
through Dr. Briggs'
interest in thing;:
Canadian that many
of the Canadian
classics referred to
above were published,
and had he not as-
sumed this interest,
it is altogether prob-

>-■■'- I ■■ ■

-frlZR, ^C^fit£^j u*jfi-'

able that dozens of

such volumes would never have seen the light.

The combination of preacher and business
man is said by many to be somewhat anomalous,
but from foundations which were well and truly
laid in his boyhood days in a business house
in England, the present Book Steward has de-
veloped an executive ability which has placed
him on a par with the heads of the largest busi-
ness institutions of the Dominion. A fact which
should be interesting to readers of the Canadian
Bookman is that Dr. Briggs still maintains
his strong interest in publication matters, so
much so that he very closely supervises, and
quite occasionally writes himself, letters to
authors regarding prospective books. Dr. Briggs
believes primarily in close attention to detail
business and in providing the very best of ser-
vice to customers. One of the interesting fea-
tures in the daily procedure of the Institution
is what has been familiarly dubbed "Parade."
To explain this point it must be known that the
head of the House himself goes over everything
but the detail matters of the morning mail, and

THE BOOK ROOM "CHARTER."
Facsimile of a letter which provided for the found-
ing of the Methodist Book and Publishing
House.

the remainder is then distributed to the lead of

the depart incuts, at this brief morning gather

ing in his office. If any has been remiss in

his duties, or it appears that an in ju I ICl

been done anj customer, the opportunity is
taken of impressing the situation quite strongly
at the time. Another remarkable tact, perhap

is that \)\\ BriggS is at his desk almost w it limit
except inn mi every working day of the year.
For a man of his years, his health is exceed in-
good, and it is very infrequently that lie cannot
he found at his own office on the third floor
of the building at Queen and John streets. Tor-
onto, ready t>> look after any matter of policy,
or to nice) any members of the church. Most
heads of businesses of this size are somewhat
closely protected in their offices. Dr. BriggS is
democratic in seeing almost anyone who wants
to approach him. It js not an unusual sight
to see the chair at his right, which has just been
vacated by the General Superintendent of the
Church, or by some high dignitary of some other
denomination, occupied by a girl in her teens

from the instit ution 's
bindery. The same
spirit of democracy
is carried largely
through the plant
I tee of the socie.l fea-
tures of the institu-
tion is the cafeteria,
where the four or five
hundred employees
are served with noon-
day luncheon at cost.
In similar places in
most businesses, a
separate room is set
aside for the heads of
the departments and
the president. Not so
here. Almost any
day. the Book Stew-
ard may be seen in
the Book Room's cafeteria eating his luncheon
while in conversation with an office boy, or
with the driver of one of the firm's delivery
rigs.

Those who know Dr. Briggs and the success
which has attended his efforts in the institu-
tion, attribute a good deal of this latter to his
ability for picking men. and with this goes a
belief in promotion. An instance was given
where a subordinate was brought down to take
the head of a newly-established department. The
same policy has been followed throughout the
institution until now, witli perhaps one or tw-
exceptions, the several departments are directed
by managers who came in as boys, who have
grown up with it, and have made their places
as they came along. When, for any reason, a
vacancy occurs, the first thought in the Book
Steward's mind is the possibility of filling the
place by the promotion of someone who has
been filling a less important position previously,
and in most cases it must be said that his
judgment is exceedingly good.

CAN A 1)1 .L\ BOO KM AS

January, 1919.

Rather a notable feature in Canadian Pub-
lication circles was the completion and the plac-
ing on the market last October, of the "New
Methodist Hymn Book," a compilation which
has since taken a very large place in the wor-
ship of the denomination in Canada. This, it
should be noted, was the first Hymn Book of
any denomination for which the type was set,
and the actual printing and binding done in toto,
in Canada. The books of the other denomina-
tions have been printed in England, and im-
ported, the "publication" in such cases being

distribution and sale only.

What the future may bring for Canada's
pioneer publishing house is something that can-
not well be even imagined now. With the
post-war growth of business and population in
the Dominion, there is no doubt but that a con-
sequent growth in the institution will follow. It
seems probable that within the next few years
material additions may he necessary to tlie al-
ready vast h ime depicted in the accompanying
engraving.

Books on Metallurgy : " De Re Metallica

METALLURGY is one of the oldest of the
arts; a knowledge of its mysteries was
highly prized in olden days, and its
practice has been shrouded in secrecy even in
modern times. The manager of many a metal-
lurgical works would refuse admittance to
visitors for fear of disclosing some secret on
which the technical and financial success of
the industry was supposed to depend. Under
these conditions metallurgical literature was
limited, although important works were writ-
ten and advances were slow. In recent years
a mure liberal spirit has been observed; nowa-
days, it is generally recognized that a plant
from which visitors are excluded is probably
behind the times, and as a result of the freer
exchange of knowledge and ideas the art and
science of metallurgy are making rapid pro-
gress.

Under these conditions metallurgical litera-
ture is world-wide in scope and distribution.
Processes that are limited in use to a par-
ticular country or district are becoming fewer
and of less importance, and metallurgists in
any country can keep in touch with the ad-
vances in the science and practice of their
art in all parts of the habitable world. It will
be clear, then, that there is scarcely such a
thing as English metallurgy, Scotch metallur-
gy, Canadian metallurgy; although we some-
time, speak of American metallurgy, having
in mind the fact that on this continent smelt-
ing methods have been undertaken on a larger
scale and with a freedom from precedent that
was unknown in the past in European coun-
tries. Hooks on metallurgy, when written in
English, are usually published in London or
Xew York, and authors who may happen to
be located in Canada have their works pub-
lished in one of these places. Technical books
of this kind involve much work in writing and
considerable expense in printing and publish-
ing, the reading public in Canada is small,
and. in consequence, Canadian publishers are
unable to handle such hooks. A work of any
importance, on a subject of such wide-spread
interest, must be brought out by publishers
having world-wide affiliations, and the only
limiting circumstance is the survival of dif-

ferent languages, which still makes it neces-
sary to translate English books into French,
Spanish, German and other languages, while
metallurgical works in those tongues are
translated into English. We may almost re-
gret the medieval custom of writing in Latin
so that all scholars would understand.

Although it will he impossible to observe a
chronological order in dealing with works on
metallurgy, it seems fitting to place in this
introductory article a notice of the first book
of any importance dealing wth the subject of
metallurgy. "De Re Metallica'* — written in
Latin by (ieorgius Agricola early in the six-
teenth century and published in 1556 — has at
last been worthily translated into English by
Herbert Clark Hoover and Lou Henry Hoover,
and was published in a de luxe edition in 1912.
The noble part which Mr. Hoover has played
in the present war adds interest to the labour
of love which occupied him and his wife for
about five years.

Ge mius Agricola (Georg Bauer) was born
at Glauchau in Saxony in 1494, about the be-
ginning of the revival of learning, and his
writings, although to us they seem archaic
and somewhat obscure, mark a great ad-
vance when compared with contempor-
ary writings on the subject. One of the
features of ""De Re Metallica" is the large
number of wood-cuts, which have been repro-
duced, faithfully, in the translation. The fol-
lowing extracts will indicate the character of
the work, which covers the subject of mining,
ore-dressing, assaying, smelting and refining
of metals as known at that time.

The preface is addressed :

To the most illustrious ami most mighty dukes of
Saxony, Landgraves of Thuringia, Margraves of Meis-
sen, [imperial Overlords "t Saxony, Burgraves of AI
tenberg and Magdeburg, Counts of Brena, Lords of
Pleissnerland, To Maurice, Grand Marshall and Elector
of the Holy Koman Empire and to his brother Au-
gustus.

In it he states:

Without doubt, none of the arts is older than
agriculture, but that of the metals is not less an-
cient; in fact they are at least equal and coeval, -
for no mortal man ever tilled a field without imple-

January, L919.

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

incuts. In truth, in all the works of agriculture, at
"i the other arts, implements are uaoil which are
wade from metals, or which could not be made with
out the use ..I metals; for this reason the tnetali are

ni the greatest necessity to man.

With reference to the alchemists he writes:

These masters teach their disciples thai the base
metals, when smelted, are broken up; also thej teach
the methods by which they reduce them to the prim
ary parts and remove whatever is superfluous in
them, and by supplying what is wanted make oul

of them tin' precious metals that is, gold and silver
— all of which they .airy out ill a crucible. Whe-
ther they can ilo these things or not I cannot dei idej
but, seeing that so many writers assure us with all
earnestness that the) have reached that goal for
which they aimed, it would seem that faith might

lie placed in them; yet also seeinK that we ilo not

read of any of them ever having become rich by
this art, .... I shouhl say the matter is dubious.

Iii Book I he writes:

.Many persons hold the opinion that the metal in-
dustries are fortuitous and that the occupation is one
of sordid toil, and altogether a kind of business re-
quiring not so much skill as labour. But as for my-
self, when I reflect carefully upon its special points
one by one, it appears to be far otherwise '

He also argues against the prevailing belief
that it is wicked to have or obtain metals:

In the first place then, those who speak ill of the
metals and refuse to make use of them, do not see
that they accuse and condemn as wicked the Creator
Himself, when they assert that He fashioned some
things vainly and without good cause, and thus they
regard Him as the Author of evils, which opinion is
certainly not worthy of pious and sensible men. In
the next place, the earth does not conceal metals in
her depths because she does not wish that men
should dig them out, but because provident and sa-
gacious Nature has appointed for each thing its
place. ' '

With respect to the divining rod he writes:

There are many great contentions between miners
concerning the forked twig, for some say that it is
of the greatest use in discovering veins, and others
deny it. Some of those who manipulate ami use the
twig, first cut a fork from a hazel bush with a knife,
for this bush they consider more efficacious than any
other for revealing the veins, especialy if the hazel
bush grows above a vein. . . .Since this matter re-
mains in dispute and causes much disseution amongst
miners, I consider it ought to be examined in its own

merits The Ancients, by means of the

divining rod, not only procured those things neces-
sary for a livelihood or for luxury, but they were
also able to alter the forms of things by it; as when
the magicians changed the rods of the Egyptians into
serpents, as the writings of the Hebrews relate; and
as in Homer, Minerva with a divining rod turned the
aged Ulysses suddenly into a youth, and then re-
stored him back again to old age. . . . Therefore
it seems that the divining rod passed to the mines
from its impure origin with the magicians. Then
when good men shrank with horror from the incan-
tations and rejected them, the* twig was retained by
the unsophisticated common miners, and in search-
ing for new veins some traces of these ancient
usages remain.

Although doubtful about the divining rod,
Agricola believed in subterranean demons:

In some of our mines, however, though in very few,
there are other pernicious pests. These are demons
of ferocious aspect, about which I have spoken in
my book "De Animantibus Subterraneis. ' * Demons
of this kind are expelled and put to flight by prayer
and fasting. Some of these evils, as well as certain
other things, are the reason why pits are occasion-

abandoned. But th. fii i a, .. i principal i -.

that they .i.. not j i. -id metal,

His instructions to aasayera read correctly

at tin- present time:

It ,s necessary that ti„. assayer who ., testing ore or
metals should be prepared ai , :iii tl,iuKs

aecessa r.v ... assaying, and thai be should close the
doors oi the room ,„ which the

,|,M"1, ,lMS ' '««« < intenl on the

ror him to place his bal-

■'"■;■- ", a case, so that when b the little

buttons ol metal the scales maj ,.,, b..

a draught of air. J

1 may add in full his instructions for assay-
ing an ore of gold, to show how closely they
resemble our modern methods:

Mix one part of this ore, when it has been roasted
crushed and washed, with three parts of some pow-
der compound which melts ore, and sii parts of lead
1 i ut the charge into the triangular crucible, place it in
the iron hoop to which the double bellows reaches
and heat t.rst in a slow fire, and afterward gradu-
ally ,,, a fiercer fire, till it melts and flows like
water, it the ore does not melt, add to it a little
more ot these fluxes, mixed with an equal portion of
yellow litharge, and stir it with a hot iron rod until
it all melts. Then take the crucible out of the hoop,
shake oft the button when it has cooled, and when it
has been cleansed, melt first in the scorifier and af-
terward in the cupel. Finally, rub the gold which
has settled in the bottom of the cupel, after it has
been taken out and cooled, on the touchstone, in order
to find out what proportion of silver it contains.

Book IX. on the smelting of ores begins as

follows :—

Since I have written on the varied work of pre-
paring the ores, I will now write of the various
methods of smelting them. Although those who burn
roast and calcine the ore, take from it something
which is mixed or combined with the metals; and
those who crush it with stamps take away much; and
those who wash, screen and sort it, take away still
more; yet they cannot remove all which conceals
the metal from the eye and renders it crude and un-
formed. Wherefore smelting is necessary, for bv
this means earths, solidified juices, and stones are
separated from the metals so that they obtain their
proper colour and become pure, and mav be of great
use to mankind in many ways. When the ore is
smelted, those things which were mixed with the
metal before it was melted are driven forth, because
the metal is perfected by fire in this manner.'

The following is a description of the smelt-
ing of a complex ore containing gold, silver,
copper and lead:

After a quarter of an hour, when the lead which
the assistant has placed in the forehearth is melted,
the master opens the tap-hole of the furnace with a
tapping bar. . . . The slag first flows from the
furnace into the forehearth, and in it are stones
mixed with metal or with the metal adhering to them
partly altered, the slag also containing earth and
solidified juices. After this the material from the
melted pyrites flows out, and then the molten lead
contained in the forehearth absorbs the gold and sil-
ver. When that which has run out has stood for
some time in the forehearth, in order to be able to
separate one from the other, the master first either
skims off the slags with the hooked bar or else lifts
them off with an iron fork; the slags, as they are
very light, float on the top. He next draws off the
cakes of melted pyrites, which as they are of med-
ium weight hold the middle place; he leaves in the
forehearth the alloy of gold or silver with the lead,
for these being the heaviest, sink to the bottom.

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

January, 1919.

With regard to iron smelting the author
writes: —

Very good iron ore is smelted in a furnace almost
like the cupellation furnace. The hearth is three and
a half feet high, and five feet long and wide; in the
centre of it is a crucible a foot deep and one and a
half feet wide, but it may be deeper or shallower,
wider or narrower, according to whether more or less
ore is to be made into iron. A certain quantity of iron
ore is given to the master, out of which he may
smelt either much or little iron. He being about to
expend his skil and labour on this matter, first
throws charcoal into the crucible, and sprinkles over
it an iron shovel-ful of crushed iron ore mixed with
unslaked lime. Then he repeatedly throws on char-
coal and sprinkles it with ore, and continues this un-
til he has slowly built up a heap; it melts when the
charcoal has been kindled and the fire violently
stimulated by the blast of the bellows, which are

skilfully fixed in a pipe. He is able to complete this
work sometimes in eight hours, sometimes in ten, and
again sometimes in twelve. In order that the heat
of the fire should not burn his face, he covers it en-
tirely with a cap, in which, however, there are holes
through which he may see and breathe.

This work, as translated by Hoover, con-
tains in addition to the translation, an enor-
mous number of explanatory foot notes by
the translator; it contains more than 600
pages, 9 inches by 13 inches, and is bound in
vellum. It was published for the Translators
by the Mining Magazine, London.

Alfred Stansfield.

MeGill University,
November, 1918.

Labour and Capital After the War

By HOWARD T. FALK

PEACE is with us once again, the world, we
are told, has been made safe for Democ-
racy . . . and, is any one going to
add, Industrial Autocracy? It is not uncom-
mon to hear these days some little god in the
kingdom of Industrial Autocracy decrying
against the Bolshevik element in Canada, and
this book has only strengthened my desire to
say each time: "Look and see whether the
conditions which produced the Bolshevik ele-
ment in Russia have any counterpart in Can-
ada." Professor S. J. Chapman's symposium
on "Labour and Capital after the War"
(was there any significance in his reversion
of the order in which we usually see these two
associated in the daily press?) includes
amongst its contributors men and women
whose right to express an opinion will be un-
questioned, for they have earned it by close
contact with the problem and the experience
of many years.

The village of Port Sunlight on the banks
of the Mersey has done as much to make Wil-
liam Lever famous as has the soap that carries
the same name. Lord Leverhulme, as he is
now, would probably be the first to admit
that his interest in the welfare of his em-
ployes and his business success have been in
the relation of cause and effect. This Com-
mercial Baron writes: "Our manufacturers
have been progressive in the adoption of ma-
chinery, plant and mechanical utilities, but
have been singularly indifferent to the human
element in productive enterprise, — the human
element has been ignored and human needs
have been neglected"; and later:

It is merely so much pompous nonsense to talk of
reconciling Capital and Labor. The days for "re-
conciling" Capital and Labour as ordinarily under-
stood— if every such days existed, which I doubt —
have vanished in the smoke of war. To-day's pro-
gramme must go much deeper than mere attempts to
prevent strikes and disputes; it must include the
placing of employer and employee on the footing of
equal opportunities, and of sharing the profits of

trade and commerce between all the three elements
necessary for production, viz., Capital, Management and
Labour. The tool user must become joint owner of
the tools he wields. . . . Labour demands, and
justly demands, the best conditions of living, and suf-
ficient leisure; not for loafing, but for the attainment
of a higher standard of education and refinement,
combined with opportunity for healthful recreation.

When an Industrial Baron in England, which
knows what war is as we do not in Canada,
speaks in this strain, then the industrial mag-
nates of Canada may listen with more pa-
tience to Mr. R. H. Tawney, the wounded
Soldier Scholar, the Student of Humanity,
who has seen the Whitechapel laborer from
the intimate perspective of a resident of Toyn-
bee Hall and also as a fellow Tommy in the
trenches.

To single out any one of a dozen passages
in Mr. Tawney 's all too short thirty-five pages
seems invidious, but the kernel of the truth
seems to be expressed in these words in which
he sums up his plans for social reconstruc-
tion:

The details of the transformation may be complex,
but the principle is simple. It is that instead of the
workers being used by the owners of capital with
the object of producing profits for its owners, capi-
tal should be used by the workers with the object of
producing services for the community.

His closing paragraph is this:

It is possible that the pathetic instinct to demand
payment for privileges, as though it were a kind of
service, will re-emerge jaunty and un-repentant out
of the sea of blood and tears in which it has been
temporarily submerged, and that in a world where
not a few have given all, there may still be classes
and individuals whose ideal is not to give but to take.
Such claims, if they are made, may be regarded with
pity, but without apprehension. Men who have en-
dured the rigour of war in order to make the world
safe for democracy, will find ways of overcoming
the social forces and institutions which threaten that
cause in time of peace.

Mr. F. Dudley Docker and Sir Hugh Bell
contributes articles which are of especial in-

January, 1919.

CANADIAN I'.uo KM I \

teresl to employers, while Mr. J. R, Clynes,
M.P., and others, will appeal chiefly to the
employee; the Bishop of Birmingham, out of
courtesy, I suppose, was given the first chap-
ter, which deals with "Social and Moral Un-
rest," but when he talked of "the immoral
rest (inactivity) of the man or woman living
and working under unsatisfactory conditions
who makes no effort to better them, who, as
he himself says, "has had her mental and
physical vitality lowered until she is hardly a
sentient being." I wondered whether he would
call the apathy of the average clergyman to
these same conditions "immoral rest" or "op-
portune inactivity."

A summary of the work of the standing

committee on Plans and Propaganda of the

Canadian National R Detraction groups haa

just reached me. Ii makes frequent refer-
ence to the symposium under review, which
fact will, I hope, induce many Canadians to
read it ; for unless we have learnt our lesson
from this war. we shall find that the end of
one war is but the prelude to another. The
workers have fought in France and Flanders
for freedom for us all ; must they return to
fight, as Mr. Tawney terms it, a commercial
Mnrhi I'll/if ik, which is the social counterpart
of the temper over which we have just been
victorious? ("Labour and Capital After the
War." a symposium edited by Prof. S. J.
Chapman. Dent, Toronto, $2.)

A Lesson for Canadian Cities

By W. D. LIGHTHALL

AMERICAN Cities: Their Methods of
Business," by Arthur Benson Gilbert,
M.A., is a strong and clear-headed vol-
ume on city economics which should be read
by all thinking business men, although writ-
ten by an ex-professor. The author announces
that his ideas are chiefly due to the influence
of the celebrated Tom Johnson, the late mayor
of Cleveland, "the first man in the United
States to grasp clearly the principles by which
cities must be promoted." "The Johnson prin-
ciples that made Cleveland the best city in
his time in the United States must," he says,
"soon receive universal recognition." Ac-
cording to him the foundations of an ideal
city will be found in long-sighted scientific
business management, after wheh will follow
the artistic and cultural excellences; merely
"honest" government fails because of stupid-
ity, and ordinary "business man's govern-
ment" is too short-sighted and superficial.
Competition today is so keen, between cities
as well as business firms, that even well en-
dowed and well-situated communities must
fail as against those where system and effi-
ciency are thoroughly adopted, and it is neces-
sary to save every leak and develop every ad-
vantage to the full.

Therefore the city's first object should be
to furnish special advantages (differentials)
to its business. To do so it must favor pro-
duction— rather than ownership, and make its

first care the prosperity of the, working
classes, like the Germans. "Cities live by
their business life with the outside world, and
on this foundation build religion, culture and
morals." Hence all wastes must be avoided:
the ward system, graft, monopolies, debauch-
ery, bad housing, private-owned waterfronts,
poor terminal facilities. The old system of
mayor and council must give way to the Man-
ager plan of government, complete and exact
surveys must be drawn up and applied, the
city must acquire and operate its chief pub-
lic utilities so as to deliver good services at
cost. All these points are strongly and in-
telligently discussed in a manner appealing to
business men. The author regrets that busi-
ness classes often oppose some of these im-
provements because they have not thought
them out. At the same time perhaps he does
not sufficiently allow for peculiarly composed
communities like polyglot Montreal, nor for
the necessity of effort at the same time by
other elements than those of business, such as
the churches and settlement workers. And
have not the German communities over em-
phasized materialistic idealB of progress?
Nevertheless, it is true that our responsible
business men have not as a whole properly
backed up those who work for reforms nor
grasped the full injury done to themselves by
bad civic conditions and mismanagement.
(Macmillan, Toronto, $1.50.)

C AX AM AX BOOK MAX

Jamiarv, 1919.

Making Farmers Into "Big Business"

ByVV. LOCHHEAD

WHILE it is generally acknowledged
that the Grain Growers' Associations
have done great service for the wheat
farmers i' the prairie provinces during the
last twelve or fifteen years in their fight for
right against the might of certain organized
interests, few persons outside of those who
are intimately connected with the Associations
are acquainted with the details of the work.

The full story of the co-operative efforts of
the farmers has now been told for the first
time by Mr. Hopkins Moorhouse in "Deep
Furrows" in a way that will appeal to the
imagination of most readers. In these days of
1'nited Farmers' Ass'ociati as, -Mr. Moorhouse's
book should be of great interest to the farmers
of Eastern Canada, for it points out clearly that
success in the west was only attained by the
loyal co-operation of all the members and the
fortunate selection of leaders.

To the economist "Deep Furrows" will be.
of interest as it describes the stages of de-
velopment of the grain growers association,
from the formation of the first local associa-
tion to the amalgamation of the Grain Growers'
Company of Manitoba with the Alberta Farm-
ers' Co-operative Elevator Company into the
United Grain Growers Limited. This united
company is the world's greatest farmers' co-
operative enterprise. It has more than 35.000
shareholders, assets of six millions, and a turn-
over last year of one hundred millions. It
operates nearly 500 grain elevators, 250 floor
warehouses. 200 coal sheds, two implement
warehouses, a large timber mill, and a large
timber tract.

The conditions that made co-operative action
necessary on the part of the farmers are fully
discussed. They complained of excessive dock-
age charges and unfair weight at the elevators,
and of the monopoly enjoyed by the elevator
owners in the purchase of grain whereby the
prices were kept excessively low. The Royal
Commission that investigated the matter in
1899-1900 found the farmers' grievances justi-
fied, and the Manitoba Grain Act of 1!)00 was
an effort to remedy matters; but the elevator
owners continued their obi methods, hedging
behind the railway company, which did not
furnish enough ears to carry away the grain
from the warehouses and elevators as stipulated
in the Act.

In the fall of 1!I01 the farmers were called
together at Indian Head by W. R. Motherwell
and Peter Dayman for the purpose of taking
action against the elevator owners and the
railway. At this meeting the Territorial Grain
Growers' Association was formed, and in 1H02
it took legal action against the C. P. R. and won.

The ruling spirit among the farmers for the
next few years was E. A. Partridge of Sinta-
luta. He was sent to Winnipeg to report on
the methods of grading wheat, but he had not
been long in his position before he saw the
necessity of the farmers themselves marketing
their wheat if they were ever to get satis-
factory returns. Accordingly he called meet-
ings throughout the province and brought the
plan to the attention of the wheat growers.
The response was cold at many places, but fin-
ally in 1906 the Association bought a seat in the
Winnipeg Grain Exchange and began to do
business on its own account in the consignment
of grain. It met at first with strong competi-
tion from organized interests, especially from
the grain dealers of the Exchange. Thus, when
the Association declared a plan of a patronage
dividend the Grain Exchange took away its seat
seat, on the ground that the dividends con-
trary to the rules of the Exchange. Such action
threatened the existence of the Associaiton.
so it appealed to the Manitoba Government to
have the seat restored. The Government threat-
ened to revoke the charter of the Exchange if
it refused to recognize the farmers, who at the
same time withdrew their plan of patronage
dividend.

Instead, therefore, of paying dividends, the
company built up a powerful reserve fund,
which it used to extend its scope of operations.
In spite of opposition, however, the organiza-
tion prospered, becoming the largest factor in
the handling of grain in the Winnipeg Ex-
change.

Such, in brief, is the history of the Grain
Growers' Company as told in "Deep Furrows. '
Of the many dramatic incidents in the struggle
of the farmers for their fair and just rights.
described to the writer in forceful language,
the most outstanding were the troubles with
the railway and the banks, the government
contr 1 of the elevators, the founding of the
Grain Growers' Guide, tinder the editorship
first of E. A. Partridge and later of Roderick
McKenzie, the federal control of the terminal
elevators, the exposure of "Observer," and
some of the experiences with foreign shipments
of grain.

"Deep Furrows" brings out in relief the
names of those farmers who bore the heavy
part of the exacting ami responsible task, not
only of organizing and directing the company
but of overcoming the great opposition that
continually faced it. Such men as YV. R. Moth-
erwell, Peter Dayman. J. W. Scallion, J. A.
McIIarg, E. A. Partridge. John Miller. John
Sibb Id. John Kennedy, E. A. Fream and T. A.
Creraf get due credit for their fine services.
The must surprising feature of the struggle in

January) 1919.

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

many respects was the adaptability, shown by
the leaders to meet the critical situations as
they arose. Plain Farmers became captains of
finance and organization.

It must be remembered, however, thai "Deep
Furrows" is written from the standpoint of
the Grain Growers. Perhaps some of the

criticisms of the actions if the C. P. R. ami

cei tain banks would be Ilowed it' the com-
panies concerned were allowed to make explan-
ons on the h hole. Mr. Moorehouse has done
liis task well, and •' peep Furrows" desen
wide .ale on account of its intrinsic historical
value and as a c ntribution to the literature of
economics. Prom a literarj point of view it
" ould lose none of its effectiveness if the P
v "ill were omitted.

Recent Publications on Agricultural Subjects

T1IK field of agriculture is so large and
varied that it is very difficult to keep
readers fully informed as to the contents
of the many excellent books that appear from
time to time. These books may be roughly
classified into two groups: (1) the more or
less technical for the students of agricultural
colleges, and (2) the popular or semi-scientific
for sehools and the general reader. The first
group contains a longer list than the second.
Publishers, as a rule, are alert and send out at
intervals both lists and reviews of new books,
but these reaeh booksellers mainly. Some
Departments of Agriculture in the U. S. and
Canada publish lists of recent additions pre-
pared by their librarians, which sometimes
find their way into the hands of librarians in
cities and the larger towns and no doubt serve
a useful purpose. Dr. D. J. Stevenson, of the
Ontario Agricultural College, has recently pre-
pared a bulletin giving a list of books on Agri-
culture and Household Science with brief
notes on their contents and character. This
compilation will be widely distributed through
Ontario, and will make a useful guide for
librarians.

Brief mention, however, is made in this bul-
letin of books, dealing with two of the most
recently organized departments of agricul-
tural study, namely. Agricultural Economics
and Rural Soc'ology. The literature on these
subjects is already quite extensive, and the
war has accentuated its production. For some
time it has been recogni/.ed by agricultural
leaders that farming deals with other matters
than the production of erops and live stock.
It has also to do with the marketing of farm
products and the up-bu;lding and maintenance
of a satisfactory rural life in which the farmer
and his family may find expression for the
highest ideals of citizenship. Hence the de-
velopment of Agricultural Economics and Ru-
ral Sociology, but as new subjects the prin-
ciples have not yet been fully formulated.

In connection with the new Rural Life
Movement of the past decade, the Church has
taken a deep interest and the results of many
valuable studies of rural problems have been
published in book form. The more important
recent publications are :

"The Rural Church Movement." by E. L.
Earp. The Methodist Book Co.

"Recreation and the Church," by II. VY. Gate
The University of Chicago Press.

"Using the Resources of the Country
Church." by E. R. Groves. The Associa
fcion Press. N.Y.

"The Country Church.-' by Gill ami Pinchot.
The Macmillan Co.

"The Country Church ami the Rural Prob-
lem." by K. L. Butterfield. The University
of Chicago Press.
From the general sociological viewpoint.

the following publications are most valuable,

and should be in most public libraries: —

"The Rural Life Problem in the* United
States," by S'r Horace Plunkett. The Mac-
millan Co.

"Report of the Country Life Commission,
United States," Sturgis and Walton.

"The Challenge of the Country." by W. Fiske.
The Associated Press, New York.

"Introduction to Rural Sociology," by P. L.
Vogt. Appletons.

"The Socialogy of Rural Life." Publ. of the
Am. Soc. Soc. Vol. XT. University of Chi-
cago Pl'eSS.

"Rural Life in Canada." by J. MacDougall.

The Westminster Co.
"The Holy Earth." by L. H. Bailey. Scrib-

ners.
"The Evolution of a Country Community."

by W. H. Wilson. The Pilgrim Press.

In the field of Agricultural Economics the
following publications are valuable and sug-
gestive, as they discuss the various problems
quite fully : —
"Farm Management." by G. F. Warren. The

Macmillan Co.
"Chapters in Rural Progress." by K. L. But-
terfield. Univ. Chicago Press.
••Agricultural Economics," by E. G. Nourse.

Univ. Chicago Press.
"Selected Readings in Rural Economics." by

T. N. Carver. Ginn and Co.
•'Rural Credits," by M. T. Herrick.
"Rural Reconstruction in Ireland." Smith.

Gordon and Staples.
"Co-operation in Agriculture," G. H. Powell.

The Macmillan Co.
"Deep Furrows." by H. Moorhouse. G. II.

McLeod, Ltd.

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

January, 1919.

"This Way Out of Chaos"

By O. D. SKELTON

Shortt, Adam, "Early Economic Effects of the War
Upon Canada."' Carnegie Endowment for In-
ternational Peace. Oxford University Press,
London, New York and Toronto. 1918. Pp. xvi..
32.

Henderson, Arthur. "The Aims of Labour." McClel-
land, Goodehild and Stewart, Toronto. 1918. Pp.
128. $.50.

"The Elements of Reconstruction." Introduction
by Viscount Milner. Nisbet and Co., London.
1917. Pp. 120. One Shilling, net.

Hichens, W. L., "Some Problems of Modern Indus-
try." Nisbet and Co., London. 1918. Pp. 61.
Sixpence, net.

Macara, Sir Charles W., "Social and Industrial Re-
form, 1918." Sherrat and Hughes, Manchester.
5 shillings.

Furniss, H. S. (editor), "The Industrial Outlook."
Chatto and Windus, London, 1917. Pp., 402. 5
shillings.

Gardner, Lucy (editor); "The Hope for Society."
G. Bell and Sons, London. 1917. Pp. 236. 4s 6d.

Dawson, W. H. (editor), "After War Problems."
George Allen and Unwin, London. Pp. 366. Six
shillings.

Carter, Huntlev (editor), "Industrial Reconstruc-
tion." E. P. Dutton, New York. Pp. 295. $1.50.

A REVIEW confined to Canadian economic
or social publications of the past few
months would be almost as brief as the
chapter on snakes in the standard treatise on
Ireland. There have been practically none.
Whatever is responsible, the overshadowing
war, the lack of trained writers, the scattered
Canadian reading public, our habit of letting
English and United States writers do our
thinking for us, or what not, the fact remains
that aside from periodical publications few dis-
tinctly Canadian contributions are appearing in
this field. Some of much promise, such as
Mackenzie King's "Industry and Humanity"
are announced for early publication, and there
are other signs that a state of affairs which
does little credit to Canada will soon be changed
for the better.

The outstanding Canadian economic work of
the past few months is doubtless Dr. Adam
Shortt's monograph for the Carnegie Endow-
ment, "Early Economic Effects of the War
upon Canada." Dr. Shortt begins by an ad-
mirable survey of economic conditions in Can-
ada on the eve of the war. Nowhere is a bet-
ter analysis available of the feverish specula-
tive activities which marked the years when
men and capital were pouring into the country.
He then traces clearly and concisely the effect
of the war on industry, employment, and for-
eign trade. If the other countries which the
Carnegie Endowment intends to survey are as
competently handled, the world will have a
thorough and scientific review of one of the
must important phases of the great war.

In default of other economic studies by Can-
adians, it may be of use to note very briefly
some of the more important contributions

which are being made across the water to the
literature of reconstruction.

"Reconstruction" is in danger of becoming
as worn a counter as "camouflage." Yet the
word stands for a great and pressing reality.
The war has given not only new angles but new
urgency to every social and economic issue,
and has created a revolutionary temper which
is prepared to overhaul every institution that
does not measure up to the new standards of
efficiency and social justice. The results of
wars are often a very different thing from the
objects aimed at by either side in the conflict,
and there are already many signs that social
revolution will hold the world's stage to the
exclusion of most of the issues primarily in-
volved in the war. Only by the most careful
study of the great questions which have been
thrust upon us can we avert chaos and disaster.

From very nearly the beginning of the war
many individuals aud groups in Great Britain
have been planning the rebuilding that must
some day be attempted. The books noted be-
low, in which they present their conclusions,
are of a very high general level of ability and
insight. They differ widely in emphasis and
viewpoint, but all are serious and distinctive
contributions. Of course, their conclusions are
not to be applied with change to our conditions.
Only second to the folly of ignoring what other
countries have to suggest to us, is the folly of
trying to apply their policies or programmes to
wha may be essentally different conditions.

In "The Aims of Labour," Arthur Henderson,
Secretary of the British Labour party, offers
what may be essentially different conditions,
the two famous pronouncements of the party on
social reconstruction and on foreign policy,
which are printed as appendices to his book.
These statements of Labour policy have been
widely circulated on both sides of the Atlantic,
and merit the closest possible study. Whether
one agrees with their conclusions or not, there
is no room for question that they are the ablest
and most comprehensive and coherent platform
ever put forward by any political party. The
Memorandum on War Aims, in its insistence on
the establishment of some international author-
ity to determine and ensure justice, in its re-
cognition of the importance of the economic
factor in world affairs, and in its detailed sug-
gestions for reconciling nationalist claims with
the need of economic unity, presents a pro-
gramme which has the support of progressive
opinion the world over. There will be more
difference of opinion on the economic policy
set forth. The four principles of National
Minimums, of Democratic Control of Industry.
of Democratic Finance and the Appropriation
of Surplus Wealth for the Common Hood, will
meet wide approval. It by no means follows
that the nationalization of practically all in-

January, 1!U!I.

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

dustries is the in'st way, or a waj al all, to
secure democratic control. The Fabian wri
nr inspirers of the programme stand exactly

where they did t w enty-five years ago, and seem

utterly impervious tn the newei Ideas, whether
of syndicalism, of guild socialism or of part-
nership on the Whitley basis. It certainly is
surprising to see the Labour part] bo ready to
endorse Mr. Sydney Webb's identification of

democracy with bureaucracy. Nonetheless,

both the programmes of the party and Mr.
Henderson's moderate and lucid comments de-
mand attention.

From another quarter there comes a little
book. "The Elements of Reconstruction," fath-
ered by no name but godfathered by Lord
Milner in a pregnant introduction, which makes
it clear that sweeping changes have advocates
at both ends of society. The main thesis of
the authors of this study, which is admirably
concise, is that combination of industry on a
very large scale is essential it* England is to
hold her plaee in trade, and is indispensable
as a basis for the application of scientific re-
search to industry. Insteady of a tariff on agri-
cultural products, they urge national purchase
through one office of all food requirements,
paying home producers more than foreign.
They strongly advocate proportional represen-
tation and also occupational representation,
that is, the election of members representing
Army and Navy" rather than such places as
"Scotch Minerals or English Textiles or the
Hampstead or Croydon, "whose inhabitants
have scarcely anything in common except a
postal address." Just how the two reforms
could be worked o\it together, is not made
clear. As might be expected in a book having
Lord Milner 's blessing, the authors are eager
to save the Empire by ample doses of that good
old nostrum. Imperial Federation. As to edu-
cation they urge the claims of history, philoso-
phy and the social science, in university work,
as against either an exclusively classical or
an exclusively scientific curriculum.

!->till more significant of the altered attitude
of the employing class is the Watts lecture on
'•Some Problems of Modern Industry," by W.
L. Hichens, Chairman of Channel, Laird & Co.,
Mr. Hichens, as might have been expected, em-
phasizes the necessity of increasing output,
utilizing new methods and machinery, stand-
ardizing machines, developing cheap and cen-
tralized power, abolisihng strikers, removing
restrictions placed by trades unions on out-
put, and organizing common selling agen-
cies for each industry. More novel is his
insistence that industry must be considered a
national service, and that in consequence profits
must be limited, labour controlled by the state,
a measure of partnership in the control of in-
dustry set us (subject to the right of the senior
partner to fire the junior partner, as every
manager must be left free to select his own
employees , a shorter work day made obligatory,
and provision made for a yearly holiday on
full pay for every worker.

In '•Social and Industrial Reform." another
distinguished employer. Sir Charles W. Maeara,
presents the programme of those employers who

see thai laissez faire and industrial autocracy

nave had their day, but are not prepared to
abolish the wage Bystem at the behest of social
ist or syndicalist. lie wishes to see the "capital

diluted with as much humanism as possible."
Strong unions of workmen and employers, in-
dustrial councils to work out a real partnership,
increased output and high wages, industrial

arbitration, international tree trade — these are

the principles of this orthodox but progressive
leader of England's greatesl industry, the cot-
ton manufacturing industry of Lancashire.

Iii "The Industrial Outlook," edited by II. S,
Furniss, the views of a group of writers, chiefly
instructors in the provincial universities, are
given. II. Clay summarizes very clearly the
present status of wage-earners, G. W. Daniels
brings together some coiiiiuon-places on em-
ployers and property. .1. K. Taylor gives a suc-
cinct historical review of labour organization
in England. A. W. Ashby gives an excellent
analysis of English agriculture on the technical,
labour and business sides. T. E. Gregory dis-
cusses the changes necessary in the banking
system, especially in increased gold reserve,
longer trade credits, and the linking up of post
office savings and the co-operative banks. W.
H. Pringle outlines a scheme of state finance
on free trade lines, and in a very acute analysis
of the relation of the state to industry gives
reasons for doubting whether the state is to be-
come so all-dominant as many hope and many
fear. Altogether, a well-informed, coherent
survey, containing no startling suggestions but
full of meat.

Another symposium, "The Hope for Society,"
edited by Miss Lucy Gardner, is more sweep-
ing in its scope and also more sketchy. The
Bishop of Oxford emphasizes the part the fam-
ily must play in reconstruction. J. A. Hobson,
as usual, is pessimistic about the revival of a
new industrial feudalism. Clutton Brock voices
the claims of art to a larger consideration,
and J. St. G. Heath emphasizes the need of
developing a social conscience in the use of in-
come. Miss Bondfield deals with the position of
women in industry, while Mrs. Pethwick Law-
rence discusses the wider aspects of the wo-
man's movement. C. Turner and Roden Buxton
present the conservative and the radical view
respectively as to the future reorganization of
agriculture. Philip Kerr, editor of the Round
Table, gives a moderate statement of the case
for imperial federation, while Mr. Ernest Bark-
er has some wise words on sex and class re-
adjustments. Sir Hugh Bell presents the em-
ployer "s view as to trade union regulations
and Dr. A. J. Carlyle the trade union view.
The essays are all well written and all sug-
gestive, though hardly full enough to cover
their fields adequately.

In "After War Problems." edited by W. H.
Dawson, many of the some questions are given
fuller treatment. The first essay, written by
the Earl of Cromer just before his death, dis-
cusses the subject of imperial federation from
the standpoint of an experienced imperial pro-
consul: in common with most English writers
on this subject. Lord Cromer seems blissfully
unaware that the Dominions at present control

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

January, 1919.

most matters which come under the head of
foreign affairs, and do not need to seek repre-
sentation in an imperial parliament to get a
share of such control: Lord Haldane gives
a weighty and very helpful survey of the edu-
cational field. Sir IL II. Johmcon deals with
proposals to restrict the immigration or natur-
alization of aliens in the light of England's his-
tory. Dr. Garnett, Professor Chapman, G. H.
Roberts, the Labour member, and Sir Ben-
jamin Browne present different angles of the
question of the relation of the state, the em-
ployer and the workman. The Bishop of Exeter
gives the Cecil family view as fco the rehabili-
tation of rural life. II. R. Aldridge deals in-
formingly with housing and James Kerr with
National Health. Professor Marshall makes a
very thorough and well-balanced analysis of
public finance problems, and a half dozen oth-
er writers contribute their quotas to a solid and
workmanlike book.

Of a different type is the symposium edited
by Iluntly Carter, entitled "Industrial Recon-

struction." The book contains the answers
made by some sixty representative Eulishmen
to a series of questions as to the industrial
situation after the war, submitted by the editor.
As is inevitable in so varied a group of con-
tributors, the discussion is uneven and a bit
bewildering. The conciseness of the answers
made, and the unity of theme, however, make
it possible with a little care to get a very good
idea of practically all the programmes being
put forward for industrial reconstruction. The
contributions of the National Guildsmen group,
including G. D. Cole. W. Mellor and M. B.
Reckitt, will probably be found most novel by
the majority of readers, but the whole book is
extremely stimulating in suggesting new angles
of approach.

Doubtless before another quarter rolls by,
Canadian anil United States writers will have
begun to make their contributions to the same
general theme. Our English cousins have set
a high standard of achievement in these pioneer
writings.

How Autocracy Slew Itself

BY superimposing the very dramatic and
topical title "Suicide of Monarchy" upon
a volume which was apparently intended
originally to sail under the non-committal flag
of "Russian D;plomat," the publishers of
Baron Eugene de Schelking's highly interest-
ing collection of personalia on the royal fam-
ilies of Continental Europe have probably
succeeded in catching the public ear to good
purpose. The new t;tle is not unjustified. Mr.
de Rchelking (he seems to have abandoned his
Russian dignity when he settled in Canada)
has a very intimate knowledge of precisely
those weaknesses of the kingly caste in Europe
which plunged the world into the recent catas-
trophe and ensured the disappearance of both
kin? and caste from so large a portion of the
earth's surface. There is not in his pages any
"l-eat amount of the "secret memoirs" style
of information which will perhaps be looked
For by Mime on the strength of the book's title
ITe refrains from descriptions of the bathing
habits of Rasput'n, and even discredits the
idea that the conquests of that unclean per-
son reached into the highest circles of Russian
society. He suspends judgment concerning
even the Eulenburg scandal, which most court
gossips accent as sufficiently proven, and al-
together exhibits a most praiseworthy atti-
tude towards the accusation which are so eas-
ily made concerning those who have lost the
power to defend themselves.

His portraits of the crowned heads of pre-
war Europe are lifelike and drawn at short
range, but do not profess to the intimacies of

a valet or even a dentist. To serious students
of recent history, the most valuable part of
the book will be that which deals with the oc-
cupants of the various important diplomatic
posts in Europe during the last few years. Mr.
de Schelking's knowledge of these personages
is extensive, and his judgment acute, and he
writes with the remarkable freedom of one
who realizes that his past career is totally
closed, and that he must make a new life for
himself in a new world. Mr. de Sehelking
has been residing for a considerable time in
Vancouver, where he has entirely recast this
volume in collaboration with L. W. Makovski.
an experienced traveller and journalist whose
articles on the war and the political situation
in Europe have been one of the features of
the Vancouver Daily Province, and who con-
tributes a clever preface. "I know no book,"
says Mr. Makovski, not without justice,
"which gives a better proof of the value of
democracy than this one. Not because it deals
with democratic principles, but because it ex-
poses the weaknesses of autocratic govern-
ment." And one lays down the volume con-
vinced that, bad as it may be for statesmen
to be compelled to consult the caprices of a
universal-suffrage electorate (and it is only in
a mistaken and exaggerated form of democracy
that those caprices become dangerous), it is
infiniately worse that they should have to
maintain themselves in power by pandering to
the follies and selfishness of vain and vicious
autocrats. (Macmillan, Toronto, $2).

January. L919.

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

Among the Booksellers

IT is impossible to converse for five minutes
with any of the Leading booksellers of Can-
ada without perceiving how greatly en-
hanced a sense of the importance and public
serviceability of the book business has been
developed as a result of conditions during the
world war. The besl booksellers in Canada
have always regarded themselves as educa-
tionists, leaders of the public taste; hut they
have never had so many proofs of their power,
and of the good uses to which it can be put, as
they have had since the making of public opin-
ion became a matter of general concern owing
to the war.

"Tlie hook trade has gained considerable
prestige during the war." said Mr. Harry Bur-
ton, of Foster Brown Company, Limited, to
the Canadian Bookman. "It lias been declared
by the governments, both of England and of
the United States to be an essential industry.
It has been used repeatedly by the various
governments for the distribution of propa-
gandist literature, and recognized as a power-
ful socialising agent.

"Literature, from a bookseller's point of
view, has passed through four dist'nct stages
since 1914. The first stage was the enquiry
into the cause and origin of the war. and is
well represented by the demand for such works
as Bernhardi's 'Germany and the Next War,'
Cramb's 'Germany and England,' Wister's
'Pentecost of Calamity,' Oliver's 'Ordeal by
Battle." the official government papers and
the Oxford pamphlets.

"The second stage was the public interest
in descriptions of the fighting by war cor-
respondents, and produced Boyd Cable's 'Be-
tween the Lines.' Palmer's 'My First Year of
the War.' Philip Gibbs' 'Soul of War,' and
Donald Hankeys' 'Student in Arms.'

"Third came the personal narrative period,
during which soldiers wrote of their experi-
ence at the front, The most successful narra-

tives were 'Over the Top, ' ' Private Peat,' and
'Kitchener's Mob.'

"The final stage brings us to the present
time, and finds the novel again the mosl popu

lar hook. Although the most successful novels
of the war, 'Soma,' by Stephen McKenna
'Changing \V mis,' by St. John Irvine, and
'Mr. Britling,' do not rightly belong to tie-
later period, they are still in active demand."
Mr. William Tyrrell, of Toronto, points out
that not only is fiction the commanding com-
mod'ty in the book market at the present mo-
ment, but that the present winter is unique in
bookselling records owing to the absence of
any outstanding book of biography, reminis-
cence, history or criticism. There are a mini
ber of excellent minor works in several of
these categories, but nothing comparable with,
for example, the Morley "Recollections."
Usually there are at hast two or three works
of this calibre in a winter, works which every
real reader feels obliged to make an acquaint
ance with. The present anomalous situation is
probably due to the uncertainty as to the fu-
ture (of peace and war) which prevailed dur-
ing the summer when publishers were laying
their plans, and to the paper and labour short-
age in Great Britain, which is the source of
most publicaCons of the kind. Mr. Tyrrell
noted a revival in the demand, in Toronto, for
Lord Charnwood's "Lincoln," but this was
due to the local accident of the distinguished
author's visit to the Canadian Club of that
city. War books are still in large demand in
Toronto, and there is a growing supply of, and
interest in, books dealing with the problems
of reconstruction, but the literature of this
class is in a tentative state, and has not ap-
parently produced any permanent master-
pieces. * The new interest in poetry, especially
in the form of anthologies, was cited by Mr.
Tyrrell as an evidence of the broadening of
popular taste.

Canadian Anglican Leaders

"Leaders of the Canadian Church," a col-
lection of biographical sketches of ten departed
bishops of the Church of England in Canada,
proceeding from as many pens but all edited
by Canon Bertal Heeney, is obviously intended
purely for circulation within the membership
of that communion, since the term "Canadian
Church" is used in an esoteric sense which
would not be accepted by any other body. It
is an interesting but very uneven compilation,
ranging from the brief and finely critical and
historical study of Bishop Strachan by the Ref-
erence Librarian of the Winnipeg Public Lib-
rary to the somewhat verbose and excessably
affectionate tributes to recently departed dig-

nitaries by personal friends. At a time when
the whole question of the episcopate of the
Church of England in Canada — of its selection,
its position, its authority and its personal pres-
tige— is up for serious consideration, such a
volume, however, far from perfection, must
serve a useful purpose. (Musson, Toronto,

Persons desiring to form their own opinion
on the military abilities of Foch have about
thirty books of biography or impressions by
his friends and others, his own work on War-
fare, and literally hundreds of magazine ar-
ticles to select from. It is evident that the
public is by no means tired of the subject of
military tactics.

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

January, 1919.

Norman Duncan's Last Word Hughes' Unpardonable Sin

THE late Norman Duncan, whose two pos-
North," and "Battles Royal Down
thuinous volumes, "Harbour Tales Down
North" have just been published in Canada by
Thomas Allen, was probably the most accom-
plished and technically finished teller of tales
that Canada has ever produced. The short
stories reprinted in these two volumes are
striking examples of what can be done with
the flimsiest materials by an assured art and
an intense concentration on the one effect de-
sired. The craftsmanship here exhibited en-
titles the writer to be admitted, for compari-
son at any rate, into the most select company
of the masters of the short story, not on this
continent alone, not in English alone, but in
any language. To young Canadians seeking
to learn how to write we commend an earnest
perusal of these two volumes of tales, not be-
cause they are the greatest examples avail-
able, but because they are undeniably great
in respect of their art, and noble in their con-
ception, and because the man who wrote them
was a Brantford boy, a Toronto University
graduate, a worker for a time on Canadian
newspapers, and because (as the biographical
note in the volumes informs us) he never,
though he spent most of his adidt life in the
United States, abandoned his citizenship in
the Dominion. An admirable portrait is in-
cluded in each book. (Thomas Allen, Toronto,
$1.35 each).

Who's Who In America

The tenth volume of "Who's Who in Am-
erica," for the years 1918 and 1918, has been
issued by A. N. Marquis & Co., Chicago, (price
six dollars). It contains 22,968 sketches, of
which 3,191 sketches have not appeared in
previous issues. While remarkably complete
in covering of names of Americans who are in
any sense in the public eye, this work is
strictly selective in that particular nobody who
is not entitled to serve men of public interest
is admitted to its columns. Persons who have
been in the public eye by virtue solely of some
official position, and who have since retired
from that position are mentioned, who merely
with bare reference to the previous volume in
their biography may he found. "Who's Who
in America," does not make any special ef-
fort to cover the Canadian field, but it is as-
tonishing to note what a large number of
these prominent Americans have their birth-
place in the Dominion of Canada. And ab-
solutely priceless feature of the Bookman,
which we had not remembered noticing in
any similar publication is a geographical in-
dex by which all the entitled persons living
in any particular city or town of the United
States can be found grouped under the name of
their place of residence.

Let Mr. Theodore Roosevelt stick to poli-
ties. When he says Rupert Hughes' "The Un-
pardonable Sin" is a "very, very strong
book" — and he does say so on the cover — he
apparently means "strong" in the sense that
perfumes and meats may have the quality. The
book is more than strong : it is high. Of course
as propaganda intended to rouse the sentimen-
tal American into Hun-hating it is perhaps
effective. That may he why Roosevelt liked
it. But as literature, even as entertainment
— open the door!

Once upon a time Rupert Hughes did some
fairish things about New York shop-girls, but
he has made himself a mere peddler of thrills
for maiden intelligences that wallow in mor-
bid sex stuff under the pretence of facing the
truth about life. The Bryce report needed no
dressing up. Surely respectable matrons of
forty with grown daughters don't have to bear
children to the German army, in order that
American sewing circles may be moved to con-
demn the German cause. Mr. Hughes places
himself in the unenviable position of a man
who, merely because it may have been true,
tells an unpardonable story to decent com-
pany.

The Crack In The Bell

Primed as one has been from one's cradle
with the notion that Philadelphia is slow, one
receives something of a shock at the impetuous
rush of Mr. Peter Clark Macfarlane 's latest
novel, "The Crack in the Bell," which deals
with the iniquition of Philadelphia politico,
until they are revolutionized in two short years
by a vigorous young amateur reformer yclept
Jerry Archer. Perhaps it is needless to say that
Jerry has red hair. Modern fiction so unvary-
ingly presents either a hero or heroine with red
hair, that one begins to feel that much-maligned
color for tresses has at last come into its own.
Be that as it may, one wishes Mr. Macfarlane
wouldn't go quite so fast. For instance, be-
tween pages 137 and 444, he forgets the name
of the heroine's favorite aunt, and changes her
from Stella to Letitia without even a "by your
leave." It must have taken Mr. Macfarlane at
least three hours, even at his rate of speed, with
his trusty typewriter, to turn out that much
fiction. So lie may be forgiven for his forget-
fulness, but it is rather hard on the "gentle
reader" — mixes one up so. And also, in his
flair for speed, he. in at least two instances,
refers to someone's "flare" for a subject.
"The Crack in the Bell" is an eminently read-
able tale of love and politics, which will give
two or three! hours of good entertainment.
Quite the best chapters are those in which Jerry
makes an ingenious application of the "Liberty
Bond" idea to his private business.

January. L919.

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

Notes of the Newest Books

Canfield, Dorothy. "Home Fires in France."
A sympathetic account, by one of America's
most charming and individual novelists, of
the work of the French people— old men, old
and young women, and children — who kept
the home fires burning in France during the
four years, and of some Americans who helped.
Told in brief sketches, with vividness and re-
straint— both qualities needed by the tragic
horror of some of the subjects. (Copp, Clark
Co., Toronto.)

"Centurion": "Gentlemen at Arms." Twen-
ty short tales of experience at the front, writ-
ten by a British officer who "makes no claims
. . . . to be considered a writer of fic-
tion," but has acquired a wide reputation for
his skill in recording the actions, words and
thoughts of British soldiers in action. Several
of the tales are wonderful tributes to the
faith and nobility that sustain such men in the
hour of deepest trial. (McClelland, Goodchild
& Stewart, Toronto, $1.40l)

Chohnondeley, Mary: "Under One Roof."
An autobiographical study of family life in an
English country personage forty years ago, by
the sympathetic author of "Red Pottage." A
wonderful group of portraits, the most won-
derful of the lot being "Ninny," the family
nurse, who was sixty years in service, used
to give costly presents to the children, and
left $10,000 at her death, and who was "in the
best sense a lady, well-bred .... refined,
dignified. I have never seen her shy, or abashed
or forward in manner." (Dent, Toronto,
$1.50.)

Dawson, Lt. Coningsby: "Out to Win." This
is "the story of America in France," written
by the well-known literary man and son of
the Rev. W. J. Dawson. It is- propagandist
in tone, intended largely to promote a better
understanding between English and Ameri-
cans. (Gundy, Toronto, $1.25.)

Doyle, Sir A. Conan: "The British Cam-
paign in France and Flanders, 1916." The
third volume of this able author's History of
the "War is given almost entirely to the Battle
of the Somme, with a single subsequent chap-
ter on the Battle of the Ancre. It has passed
through three censorships, and all personal
names save casualties or High Command have
been eliminated; but it is the first publication
to give the exact identity of the units engaged.
These regimental references are very fully in-
dexed, and 32 of the references are to specific
Canadian troops. The maps are admirable.
(Musson, Toronto.)

Durkin, Douglas Leader: "The Fighting
Men of Canada." A volume of spirited verse,
sufficiently regular in rhyme and rhythm and
sufficiently obvious in intent to have a good
chance of popularity. Mr. Service should be
proud of Mr. Durkin. who evidently comes also
from the West, and probably from British

Columbia. (McClelland, Goodchild and Stew
art, Toronto, $1.00.)

Ely, Richard T.: "The World War and
Leadership in a Democracy." A new volume
in the Citizen's Library of Economics, Politics
ami Sociology, a series edited by Professor Ely
himself. A brilliant contrasting of German and
American mentality, by one of America's fore
most thinkers, in which is developed very
clearly the thesis that the great need of democ
racy in America (to which we add Canada) is
the institution of Leadership — the power of se-
lecting, training, following and eventually re
placing leaders — the exact opposite of dema-
gogy. The book is short, but contains sug-
gestive hints on how Leadership may be de
veloped, education being, of course, the chief
factor. (Macmillan, Toronto, $1.50).

Flatt, W. D.: "The Making of a Man."
Dedicated to the twenty-eight boys in the au-
thor's Sunday School Class at Port Nelson.
Ont. The story of a pioneer from the Orkney
Islands, who came to Canada in the 'fifties.
Should interest boys and give them a more
vivid sense of the beginnings of modern Can-
ada. (Briggs, Toronto.)

Henderson, Rt. Hon. Arthur: "The Aims
of Labour." A statement of the policy of the
Henderson party, in a handy papercovered
pamphlet of 128 pages. "Never," says "The
Public," "have the privileged classes been ad-
dressed in terms so peremptory and unmistak-
able, and in language so well adapted to their
understanding." (McClelland. Goodchild &
Stewart, Toronto.)

Irwin, Will: "A Reporter at Armageddon."
Because he is not ashamed of being a reporter,
Will Irwin is able to do good stuff about even
so big an assignment a Armageddon. His pic-
turesque narratives are still very readable in
■ spite of the war being over. (Goodchild, To-
ronto, $1.50.)

Kemmerer, Edwin Walter: "The A B C of
the Federal Reserve System." A detailed
but (even to the amateur) intelligible study
of the effect of the introduction of the Fed-
eral Reserve System in American banking, by
Princeton's Professor of Economics and Fin-
ance. The Act itself as amended, with an ex-
haustive index, and several other related fin-
ancial documents, is appended, (Princeton
University Press, Princeton, N.J.. $1.50.)

Kennedy, G. A. Studdert : "Rough Rhymes
of a Padre." Sincere, original and vigorous
verse, expressive of the new attitude towards
God resulting from the war. by a fighting
parson known among his men as "Woodbine
Willie." A worthwhile example of the- new
war verse. (Musson. Toronto. $1.00).

le Goffic, Charles: "General Foch at the
Marne." A translation by Lucy Menzies of
the French work entitled "Les Marais de St.
Gond," dealing with the six days' fighting

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

•January. 1919.

which succeeded the arrest of the German ad-
vance in September, 1914, and saved the world
from Teutonization. A fine story, told by a
military expert with literary vividness. (Dent.
Toronto.)

Lewisohn, Ludwig: "The Poets of Modern
France.'" Headers interested in the develop-
ment of modern verse, but unable for lack of
French to consult the anthologies of France
itself, will find value in the^e remarkably hap-
py and tasteful renderings by an Ohio State
University professor, tjut 'the fact remains
that the more modern poetry becomes the less
can it be translated. The translations are pre-
ceded by an interesting essay on the sources
of the New Poetry and the principles and me-
thods embodied in it. Mr. Lewisohn is quite
"•rmderfullv sympathetic'. (Dent, Toronto,
$1.50.)

Lowell, Amy: "Can Grande's Castle." The
very latest in "polyphonic prose," which is
poetry, but is typeset prose-wise, and includes
"rhyme, assonance, alliteration and return."
The preface is a highly interesting statement
of purpose and method. As to the four
"poems," opinion will be divided. That they
possess in places the prose merit of eloquence
none will deny. But is this method ap-
plicable to a "poem" 50 pages long? (Mac-
millan, Toronto, $1.50.)

Mackenzie, Compton: "Sylvia Scarlett."
Another volume of the wildly fantastic adven-
tures which Mr. Mackenzie, by dint of extreme
rapidity of narration and extreme vivacity of
characterization manages to make plausible
even to critical readers. It might just as well
have been called "Carnival the Second." One
does not recollect ever meeting any French-
English actresses quite so impetuously irre-
sponsible as Sylvia, but one wishes one could.
No other English author could make a per-
fectly good joke about a lavatory, as Mr.
.Mackenzie does, except perhaps George Moore.
and if he made it it would not be a joke.

Marcosson, Isaac F. : "The Business of
War." A popular explanation of all that side
of the operations of an army in the field which
is not included in actual fighting — supplies,
transportation, salvage, storage, accounting.
With a closing chapter eulogizing " North-
cliff e — Insurgent." Written for the Ameri-
can public, but dealing with the British army.
(Dent, Toronto, $1.50.)

McGillicuddy, Owen E.: "The Little Mar-
shal and Other Poems." Some 40 pages of
unassuming verse — half-a-dozen war poems and
the remainder devoted to the joys of domes-
ticity. Occasionally, as in "Comfort," Mr.
McGillicuddy catches the really universal note
of a true and unaffected simplicity. Usually he
is off after something much more ambitious,
and sometimes he tries to be simple and fails to
lie more than commonplace. (F. D. Goodchild,
Toronto.)

Moorhouse, Hopkins: "Deep Furrows."
The romantic history of the Grain Growers'
movement in Western Canada, told in full de-
tail with distinct propagandist motive, by a
skilful writer of fiction, and economics. It
touches some controversial matters, and will
not meet with universal agreement, but it is
worth reading by anybody interested in
the future of Canada. (McLeod, Toronto,
$1.50.)

Pollard, Harold: "Aero Engines, Magnetos
and Carburetors." A very neat pocket vol-
ume, with lucid descriptions and plenty of
diagrams. Just the thing for the beginner in
aviation. The author is with the Air Service
in Toronto. (Macmillan, Toronto, $1.25.)

Strunsky, Simeon: "Little Journeys To-
wards Paris, 1914-1918: A Guide Book for
Confirmed Tourists by W. Hohenzollern."
Route I. is "From Liege to Paris by Way of
the Marne, the Was, and the Ain't." There
are twelve others, and some side excursions.
Mr. Strunsky has worked hard on a thin idea.
(Goodchild, Toronto, 75c.)

Strunsky, Simeon: "Professor Latimer's
Progress." If this is America's "Mr. Brit-
ling." as has been claimed by some, the dif-
ference between literary England and literary
America is vividly exemplified. It is the dif-
ference between a great and carefully laboured
canvass and a rather frivolous sketch. We do
not think the Strunsky book deserves so high
a parallel. It is more in the line of an A. C.
Benson ramble without the Benson culture.
(McClelland, Goodchild & Stewart. $1.40.)

Tarkington, Booth: "The Magnificent Am-
bersons. " Another of Mr. Tarkington 's won-
derfully understanding studies of the Ameri-
can juvenile; quite serious this time, with re-
flections upon the mis-education of the gilded
youth of the "best families," but very amus-
ing for all that, with its pictures of social life
in an American small city. (Briggs, Toronto,
$1.50.)

Thomas, Hartley Munro (R.A.F.) : "Songs
of an Airman and Other Poems." With an In-
troduction by S. W. Dyke, D.Sc, LL.D., Prin-
cipal of Queen's Theological College, Kingston,
Ont. Comparing the dates appended to some
of these poems and those given in Principal
Dyde's sketch, we find that many were writ-
ten at the age of 16. The wisdom of publishing
them is open to question. In the aviation
poems, which are naturally later, there is evi-
dence of considerable technical improvement
and a fine sincerity of feeling. With proper
self-criticism and a due amount of labour this
writer, who undoubtedly has something to
say. will give us verse to be reckoned with.
Already, in "The Soninie" and in parts of
"The First Who Came," he touches achieve-
ment. (McClelland, Goodchild & Stewart, To-
ronto.)

» *_/L.U Ull, 1

60c. a Copy

APRIL. 1919

M-.u SERIES
$1.50 a Year

1®M

d_Ji tl_Ji

"Canadian Poets and the Great War"

By W. D. LIGHTHALL

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

Books Worth While for Young and Old

THE "LAST CALL" FOB SOME OP THE CLASSICS WRITTEN DURING THE WAR. EVERY

STUDENT OP TO-DAY AND IN YEARS TO COME WILL FIND THE FOLLOWING OP IN-
CALCULABLE VALUE.

"Under Fire"

The Great French Real-
istic Novel

By Henri Barbusse.

(Cloth $1.75)

"The Four Horse-
men of the
Apocalypse ' '

The Great War Novel
written by the noted
Spaniard

Ibanez.

Now in its SSth Edition.
(Cloth $1.90)

"The New Book of
Martyrs. ' '

A beautiful and touch-
ing series of studies
which ensures an indis-
putable place among the
permanent masterpieces
inspired by the war.
By G. Duhamel.
(Cloth $1.75)

"Marching on
Tanga."

The classic on the
African Campaign —
more fascinating than a
novel. — Second edition.

By P. E. Young.

(Cloth $1.75)

THREE VERY IMPORTANT VOLUMES

"The Story of My
Life"

The Rt. Hon. Sir Edward
Clarke, K.C.

A candid record of a
wonderful and pictur-
esque career.

(Cloth $5.00)

Ready about March 31st

"SIR WILFRID LAURIER"

By Peter McArthur.

A popular appreciation of the great States-
man and his work.

200 pages. Cloth SI. 00.

"Prime Ministers &
Some Others."

A Book of Reminescen-
ces.

By the Rt. Hon. G. W.
E. Russell.

(Cloth $5.00)

SOME FIRST CLASS NOVELS WHICH WILL APPEAL TO LITERARY PEOPLE.

"Gone to Earth"

By Mary Webb.
(Cloth $1.50)
"She (Mary Webb) is a genius,
and I shouldn't mind wagering
that she is going to be the most
distinguished writer of our gen-
eration."— N.T. "Sun."

"The White Island"

By Michael Wood.
(Cloth $1.50)
A story of unusual and arrest-
ing quality. It has special re-
ference to the actions and of the
hour.

"Before the Wind"

i Wrack-Straws)
By Janet Laing.
(Cloth $1.50)
A novel of freshness and orig-
inality in which whimsical hum-
our is combined with a double-
barrelled detective story.

"The War Eagle"

By W. J. Dawson.

(Cloth $1.50)

The author of "Robert Shen-

stone" more than maintains his

reputation in this fascinating

book.

"The Little Daughter of
Jerusalem"

By Myriam Harry.
(Cloth $1.90)
A translation of a remarkable
book about Jerusalem, showing a
clear picture of every-day life
there. The story is full of vivid
touches of real and aiiventuroua
life.

"The Pathetic Snohs"

By Dolf Wyllarde.

(Cloth $1.50)
It has remaiirc.-! for Dolf Wyl-
larde, with characteristic orig-
inality to penetrate the outer
crust and discover a quite over-
looked ingredient of the snob-
pathos.

SOME BOOKS OF LASTING VALUE

' ' Illusions & Realities of the
War"

By Francis Grierson.

(Cloth $1.25)

Author of "The Invincible Al-
liance. One of the most highly
praised books of the war.

"Handicraft for Boys"

By A. P. Collins.
(Cloth $1.50)
Fully illustrated. How to make
practical things with simple
tools.

"Spunyarn and Spindrift"

By Norah Holland.
(Cloth $1.00)

A volume of verse by a cousin
of W. B. Yeats, but who was
born and still lives in Canada,
which is indeed a classic.

"Business of War"

By Isaac Marcosson.

(Cloth $1.50. Fully Illustrated)

One of the most useful refer-
ence books arising out of the
Great War.

FOR THE YOUNG PEOPLE
"In the Days of the Guild"

By Lamprey.
(Cloth $1.50)

Beautifully illustrated in color
and black and white. A most
charming book for both boys and
girls.

^ TWO SPECIALS IW

AT ALL BOOKSELLERS.

"Lighted Windows"

By Dr. Frank Crane.
(Cloth $1.25)

Good cheer and comfort in
plenty are to be found in this es-
timable volume.

"Inventing for Boys"

By A. P. Collins.

Cloth $1.50. Fully Illustrated.)
A practical book for boys de-
siring to invent.

"The Coming Dawn"

A War Anthology in Prose and
Verse

By Theodora Thompson.
(Cloth $1.75)
A book that we cannot too
highly recommend.

We have a wonderful range of high-class and up-to-date books on varied subjects. Let us place
you on our Mailing1 List for "Everyman's Book Bulletin," issued Monthly; also our Catalogue of
Poetry gathered from all parts of the world; also "Everyman's Library" and "Wayfarers' library"
Catalogues. All Free for the asking.

J. M. DENT & SONS, LTD., Publishers, KSm TORONTO

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

A Quarterly devoted to Literature, the Library and the Printed Book.

B. K. SANDWELL, - - - EDITOR

EDITORIAL COMMITTEE

J. A. DALE, Professor of Education, McGill University
H. T. FALK, Lecturer on Social Service, McGill Uni-

• versity.

HON. W. S. FIELDING, Editor Canadian Journal of
Commerce, formerly Finance Minister of the Domin-
ion of Canada.

J. M. GIBBON, General Advertising Agent C. P. R.,
formerly editor of "Black and White."

J. J. HARPELL, President of the Industrial & Educa-

• tional Press.

R. E. HORE, Editor Canadian Mining Journal.
F. S. KEITH, Secretary of the Canadian Society' of Civil
Engineers.

W. LOCHHEAD, Professoi of Biology, Agricultural
Dept., McGill University.

GEORGE H. LOCKE, Chiet Librarian. Toronto Public
Library.

O. D. SKELTON, Professor of Political Science, Queens
University.

A. STANSFIELD, Professor of Metallurgy, McGill
University, Editor "Iron and Steel.

J. N. STEPHENSON, Editor Pulp and Paper Magazine
W. LAIRD TURNER, Editor Canadian Textile Journal.
CAPTAIN F. WILLIAM WALLACE, Editor Canadian
Fisherman.

SINGLE COPY 50 CTS.
NEW SERIES

Ste. Anne de Bellevue, P.Q., April, 1919

$1.50 PER ANNUM

CONTENTS

Page

Editorial: Standards of Criticism; Free Trade in Debasing Literature 7

The Deluge of American Magazines in '..'ana. la: a Symposium 10

Contribute. 1 by Arthur L. Phelps, Mary J. L. Black, J. Castell Hopkins and ,

Frank Wise ' 12

Canadian Poets of the Great War, by W. D. Lighthall 14

Literary Convention, by J. E. Middleton 22

Free Verse and the Parthenon, by Ramsay Traquair 23

Little Grey Mother, by J. M. Gibbon .....' 26

Some Canadian Illustrators, by St. George Burgoyne 27

First Aid to Songsmiths, by J. A. McNeil 31

On the Deterioration of Literary Style After Death, by B. K. Sandwell 32

Free Verse, by Arthur L. Phelps 36

v/ The Real Reason for Un-Bookishness in Canada, by "Professor's Wife" 37

Wasted Nights, by Elsie A. Gidlow 38

What is Poetry? by Alfred Gordon 39

A Dream of Japanese Prints, by Edith Wherry 46

The ' ' Colynm ' ' in Canada, by Ben Deacon 47

A Canadian Spring Song, by Esther W. Kerry 53

Reading Aloud in the Family, by Nina Pearce 54

V Play- Writing in Canada, by Harcourt Farmer 55

Sir Gilbert Parker 's ' ' Wild Youth and Another " 57

Books About the Forest, by .1. N. Stephenson 58

The New Partnership in Industry, by O. D. Skelton 62

The late Eben Pieken, by St. George Burgoyne 63

William Wilfred Campbell, by W. T. Allison 65

The Foundation of Modern Belgian Literature 66

Three Novels by Ibanez, by J. Poynter Bell 67

What Every Canadian Ought to Know, by W. S. Wallace 69

Monotones," by S. Morgan Powell 70

Work for the Anthologist, by Alfred Gordon 73

God, Conduct and Revelation, by .1. E. Ward 78

The Pioneers, by J. A. Dale

The Author of ' ' Sonia, ' ' by J. E. Ward vl

Reviews & Notes of New Books 81

Contributors to the April Number

Best Sellers of the Season 89

EDITORIAL OFFICE, B. 30 BOARD OF TRADE BUILDING, MONTREAL

THE CANADIAN BOOKMAN is published quarterly by the Industrial & Educational Press Limited, at the Garden

City Press, Ste. Anne de Bellevue, P.Q.

J. J. HARPELL, President and Managing Director
A. LONGWELL, Vice-President

A. S. CHRISTIE, Eastern Manager,

B 30 Board of Trade Building, Montreal

H W. THOMPSON, Western Manager.

1402 C.P.R. Building, Toronto

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

April. 1019.

My Three Years

in a

German Prison

By Hon. Henri S. Beland, M.D.,
M.P.

Dr. Beland was one of the most
notable public men held by the
Germans during the war. His ar-
rest after promises of immunity
and his position as surgeon in one
of the largest prisons in Berlin,
gave him unparalleled opportuni-
ties of observation. His story is
epoch-making and will be highly
appreciated in every Canadian
home-library. Strikingly illus-
trated with photographs brought
out of Germany before the sign-
ing of armistice $1.50

Notable
Books

of the

Season

Thanks be to God

Who Giveth Us
The Victory

By Arthur Mee.

Not War. but Victory, is the
theme of this remarkable book,
which traces the trend of events
in Britain from the beginning of
things to the end of the author's
imagination. It is a wonderful
summing-up of present-day con-
ditions and tendencies by one
whose recent books have proved
to be a remarkably sane and gift-
ed prophet $1.35.

Your Bookseller

can supply these

and others of

our Books.

Flanders
Fields

A compilation of the verse, letters and a bio-
graphy of the late Col. John McCrae.

This strikingly-Canadian book, with its collec-
tion of beautiful verse and a note-worthy bio-
graphy of a Canadian whose name has rung
round the earth, promises to be the biggest-sell-
ing book of the year. It is a beautifully-made
volume in striking aesthetic format, with deckle-
edges and gilt top. Three or four characteristic
illustrations of the poet are strong features. $1.50.

Browse in your

Bookseller's

shop — ' Twill do

you both

good.

The Cabin

By V. Blasco Ibanez.

Tou read "The Four Horsemen
of the Apocalypse" with apprecia-
tion. You will be immediately in-
terested, then, in this some ways
astonishing book by the same
author. With its scenes laid in
sunny and legendary Spain, and
with its story told with an art
scarcely approached by any living
writer, it is held by the critics as
one of the great novels of the
year -

WILLIAM
BRIGGS

Publisher

TORONTO

Moon of Israel

Here is another of Sir H. Rid-
er H:i.e:gard's typical and interest-
holding Eastern stories. The plot
is set in Egypt at the time of the
Exodus, and centres around the
love of Seti. a son of the Phar-
ohs. for Merapi. "Moon of Israel."
a beautiful maiden of the He-
brews. The book, is full of ad-
venture. Egyptian lore, and local
color $1.50.

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

APRIL, 1919

Standards of Criticism

Arc you going to have various standards oJ
criticism — for European, American, Canadian,
Ontario, Montreal, productions! And how are
your readers going to tell which standard you

are applying to , for instance?- Ex trad

from a letter of a sympathetic friend of the
( 'anadian Bookman.

FOK the heartening of trembling authors,
the enlightenment of inquisitive readers,
the clarification of our own principles even to
our own mind, let us hasten to declare, irrevoc-
ably in black ami white, in this our second issue,
that we are indeed going to have various stand-
ards of criticism, and that we can imagine do
utility or vitality or reasonableness in a criticism
which has only one standard and seeks to apply
it indiscriminately to all artistic works.

But let us also state, as clearly as may he.
how those various standards are to be applied.
The selection will not depend upon the place in
which the author resides. We know of no rea-
son why an inhabitant of Bobeaygeon should he
encouraged to produce literature which would
be censured if turned out by a citizen of Win-
nipeg, nor why we should speak kindly of a
work by a Haligonian when we should condemn
that same work if executed by a Bostonian or
an Aberdonian. That is not the idea at all. It
is by what the writer is trying to do that we
propose to judge him, not by where he strives
to do it. In this sense every man's work eon-
tains its own yard-stick, every book is the mete-
wrand of its own success or failure. The ease or
difficulty of the task which the author has set
himself, the amount of assistance which he has
received from his literary predecessors, these
are considerations which must be borne in mind
by the critic who is endeavouring to form a just
judgment of any work of art. And they are of
particular importance in judging an art which,
like the literature of Canada, is avowedly m
a pioneer stage of its existence.

When a Canadian writer endeavors to express
something of what he has honestly seen and dili-
gently studied in the social or psychological or
natural phenomena of Canada, we propose to
extend to him all the encouragement that we
can. lie is essaying a task which is very diffi-
cult, because it is very new. We shall not hold
it up against him that he does not make his
novel, if it be a novel, as interesting to the uni-

versal English-speaking mind as those of
Thomas Hardy or Henry .lane or Hugh Wal-
pole or Galsworthy. We do not, in the present

State of the population, wealth and intellectual

development of this country, expect to find

men with the literary skill and practiced crafts-
manship of those writers, engaged in the pro-
duction of Canadian literature any more than
we expect to find artists like Brangwyn, Zorn,
Zuloaga, Orpen or John contributing to ''an-
adian portraiture or landscape. Even if we
had such men amongst us — and the law of
mathematical chance is against it, to say no-
thing 'of the more important laws of environ-
ment and economic inducement — they would
not be able to carry a purely Canadian art
as far as Galsworthy or Orpen can carry their
respective British arts, because they would have
to pick it up at a much more primitive stage of
development. An artist obtains both his ma-
terials and his method by inheritance from his
predecessors; even if the use he makes of his
inheritance is to react from it most violently,
it is still an inheritance imparting a character-
istic quality and direction to his art.

Almost the first beginnings of the task of ex-
pressing Canadians to themselves in literature
and the arts, and of expressing the world in
terms of a Canadian viewpoint, still remain to
be essayed. There is hardly anything for an
artist to inherit. Not only have we done little
to express ourselves ; we have scarcely become
conscious of our own existence as a people dif-
ferent from other people, and acquired thereby
the desire for self-expression. Yet to-day we
have that consciousness and that desire, and it
is the first object of the Canadian Bookman to
stimulate them both, and to encourage the ar-
tistic effort necessary to fulfil that desire.
When, therefore, wre find Canadian writers try-
ing to express Canada to Canadians, and the
world in terms of the Canadian mind, we pro-
pose to remember constantly the difficulty of
the task which they have set themselves, the
reluctance of a material so little handled in the
past, the absence of tradition, literary associa-
tion, the "background" afforded by the r id

ing monuments of departed generations. We
shall not ask a Robert Stead to exhibit the
glamour of a Stevenson, nor complain because
a novel about London, Out., lacks the historic
richness of background of one laid in London,
England.

t'AXADIAN BOOKMAN

April, 1919.

If, on the other hand, our Canadian writer
elects to turn out the kind of stuff that could
just as well be written in New York or Mon-
tana or Clapham or Montmartre— if he throws
his Canadianism overboard altogether, or uses
it merely to give splashes of strictly commercial
"local color"' to tales which have no essential
Canadian qualities— if he writes Montana melo-
dramas and labels them Alberta, or Chicago
social-problem stuff and dates it Winnipeg—
and half of our ablest writers, with their eye on
the bigger American market, are doing precise-
ly this thing— if he does anything like this he
ceases to be entitled to any respect as a pioneer
of Canadian literature, or as having any rela-
tion to Canadian literature at all, but that of
a deserter. It is not the business of Canadian
literature to hew the wood of instruction or
draw the water of entertainment for any other
people whatsoever. There are some good Am-
erican novelists and some good English (and
Irish) poets dwelling in Canada and voting at
Canadian elections, but they are not Canadian
novelists or poets, and they will receive no more
consideration, and very little more interest,
\from the Canadian Bookman than if they dwelt
in the lands to which they address their writ-
ings.

Let it not be supposed that we deny to a Can-
adian writer the right to look for an audience
outside of Canada. What we ask is that he
seek first to express himself as a Canadian for
Canadians. If he does that successfully — and he
can never do it successfully unless he tries to
do it — the rest will be added unto him. The
. first work of literature of Canadian origin to
catch the ear of Europe and America (it is
not yet a century old), was written without a
thought of its ever being read beyond the circle
of the subscribers to Joseph Howe's Halifax
newspaper; and it was that very fact, with the
sincerity and simplicity and directness that it
involved, which made it capable of attracting
the world's attention. If Judge Haliburton had
deliberately set himself to write a book for the
American and English public when he wrote
"The Clockmaker, " he would indubitably have
failed. The author who writes for the audience
that he knows and belongs to has some chance
of achieving a larger one ; the author who delib-
erately writes for a public about which he knows
nothing except the kind of thing that they are
accustomed to read, will never get an audience
for himself at all, for he cannot be anything
more than an imitator. Canadians writing like
Americans or Englishmen will never produce
a Canadian, or any, literature.

Free Trade in Debasing Literature

THE idea appears to be firmly rooted in
the Canadian mind that the dissemina-
tion of any kind of periodical publica-
tion (Bolsheviki propaganda of course exclud-
ed) is a thing in itself desirable, and in no wise
to be interfered with or discouraged by author-
ity. With that idea in mind we have for gen-
erations carried newspapers in His Majesty's
Canadian mails at a rate immensely below their
proportionate share in the cost of the postal
service, and we have until recent years been
fairly generous also to weeklies and maga-
zines. With that idea equally dominant, we
have excluded all classes of periodical printed
matter from the otherwise universal range of
our protective tariff, and have invited the week-
lies and magazines of the United States and of
any other country to enter freely and make this
land their happy hunting-ground ; and those
of the United States have accepted the invita-
tion with alacrity.

It might be worth while to consider what
were the circumstances and conditions which
enabled this idea to take root in a country
otherwise so wedded to the protectionist doc-
trine and the policy of discouraging the efforts
of foreigners to sell us their products. What,
for instance, was the character of the typical
periodical or magazine at the time when we
decided that periodicals must be given free
access to Canada, and registered that decision
among the list of things that we should not have
to bother with again? Was it anything like
the average American magazine of to-day? And
if there are differences, are they such as to
affect the validity of our old-time decision, — to
make it uncertain that, if we had the whole
question up for consideration and settlement
afresh to-day, we should decide for free and
undiscouraged admission with anything like
the same positiveness ?

It is difficult to say exactly at what date the
idea of the extreme desirability of a free circu-
lation of printed periodicals of non-Canadian
origin became imbedded in the Canadian mind.
It was certainly not there after the war of 1812,
when the chief concern of the most influential
Canadians was lest the poison of republicanism
should leak through the borders and destroy
the loyalty of the colonies to Great Britain. It
probably entered at about the same time, and
progressed with much the same speed, as the
idea of Responsible Government — as a part of
the great mid-nineteenth century movement to-
wards freedom both of thought and of action.
At any rate it was sufficiently established by

April, 1919,

CANADIAN BOOB i/.IA

•i

L876 to ensure that the free admission of print-
ed periodicals should be continued without a
question when the admission of practically everj

other kind of manufactured product was made
as difficult as possible in order to afford an
opportunity to Canadians to manufacture it
at home.

What, at this time, was the character of the
periodical literature which was thus invited to
enter Canada from outside? The great hulk of
it (excluding newspapers, which are not con-
cerned in the present discussion i consisted of
copies of some half-dozen great American mag-
azines. Most of them are still in existence and
retain many of the characteristics of dignity,
sincerity, artistic purpose and ability (and a
slight sleepiness) which they then possessed;
but instead of being the monopolists of the
bookseller's magazine tables they are an insig-
nificant minority, snowed up under a vast mass
of "Ginger Jars," "Snappy Stories," "Paris-
iennes" and "Spicy Specimens." They sold
for twenty-five cents and upwards and made no
effort to cater to the illiterate or semi-literate
classes; and the present writer can well remem-
ber emitting a wail of horror in the college
weekly of his undergraduate days at the degra-
dation which he conceived was being brought
by the new ten-cent Munsey's upon the honored
name of "magazine." Degradation, forsooth!
In those days of the 'nineties — and how much
more in the 'sixties and 'seventies ! — it was im-
possible for anyone to dream of the degrada-
tion which was to be inflicted upon magazine-
dom in the twentieth century by a horde of
literary panders who now control the numeric-
ally largest, if not the most important and most
influential part of magazine circulation in the
United States and Canada.

Fiction was by no means the sole interest of
the magazine in the time when Canadians de-
cided that magazines must be allowed into this
country without let. Such fiction as they did
contain was serious and important ; the ma-
jority of the "classic" novels of the Victorian
period passed through one or other of the great
American magazines in serial form. But there
were many other elements of solid cultural val-
ue : science, the arts, travel, literature, religion,
sociology, all were treated with knowledge and
sincerity, yet in a democratic and semi-popular
way which made their articles much more valu-
able in a country like Canada than the top-
lofty utterances of the "reviews" which flour-
ished in England and Scotland. There could,
in fact, be no question as to the cultural value
of the magazine as it existed between 1850 and

L900, nor as to the desirability of its free cir-
culation in ( lanada.
Today tin ituation is completely reversed.

The greal hulk of the "literature" which comes
into this country in periodical form is not only
useless, it is destructive -as a narcotic is de-
structive to the mental energies of the taker, if

QOl as a vie, ig destructive to his morals. And
it is time that this change in the utility, the
cultural value, of the average printed periodi-
cal was taken into consideration by the people
of Canada. There is no reason why this coun-
try should fiut itself to any loss, or forego any
possible revenue, in order to permit "Snappy
Stories" and "Spicy Specimens" to circulate
freely in our midst. We arc not proposing a
censorship. We do not suggest that any cus-
toms official, or anybody else, be authorised to
distinguish for us between those magazines
which we should read and those which we should
not. We are merely asking that the average pre-
sent-day non-Canadian magazine, its character
and utility, be taken into consideration when
the question of the treatment of non-Canadian
magazines is up for settlement ; and that if it be
found that the average non-Canadian magazine
in Canada is a pernicious and anti-Canadian
nuisance, as we firmly believe it to be, Canada
should then give up the sacrifices which she
has made to promote the circulation of foreign
magazines — sacrifices which she has made ow-
ing to a conception of their utility which is
hopelessly out of date.

What are these sacrifices? A very consider-
able revenue might be derived from a tax on
imported periodicals, or on the advertising con-
tained in imported periodicals, or on both ; and
a protection might thus be afforded to the
magazine industry in Canada, which at pre-
sent derives no benefit whatever from the pro-
tective tariff and suffers heavily from it in the
increased cost of everything employed in maga-
zine manufacture. We are sacrificing both the
revenue and the magazine industry. Is it said
that such a tax would hit the Century as much
as the Ginger Jar, the Atlantic Monthly as
much as the Police Gazette? Well, what if it
did ? Most of those who read the Century could
afford the tax, and love their Century enough
to pay it ; and we might in time get an Atlan-
tic Monthly and a Century of our own — we have
just as good rights to the ocean and just as much
interest in the century. Is it said that it would
be a tax on knowledge? Why, we already tax
every inch of printed knowledge that comes in-
to the country, unless it happens to be in period-
ical form.

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

April, 1919.

The Deluge of American Magazines

in Canada

Everybody admits that it exists, most of us deplore it, and here
are four totally different views about how to deal
(or not to deal) with it, by a Librarian, a Pub-
lisher, a Litterateur and an Imperialist.

Let All Continue to

Come Freely, Says

Arthur L. Phelps

THE problem is important, At this very
moment, beside the rusty, fat bellied
coal stove at our cross roads grocery,
with his feet up and his pipe aglow, sits, I war-
rant, our local store keeper rapt in the pages
of the "Popular." It is the hour of deep ease
after dinner in the country; only the rare dis-
turber will be driving the roads and clicking
the door latch ; it is the hour of the "Popular."
I have seen a truck load of these same "Popu-
lars" dumped off into the pavement's grey
maw on a misty morning in Toronto, the very
flame and riot of their covers indicating their
mission to bring light and colour to the drab
Ontarians. I have stood at the magazine table
in our departmental stores and watched the
magazines being pushed about and lifted and
glanced into and purchased by these same On-
tarians. What variety of name, of appeal, of
style, on that table ! What delightful diversity !
What magnificent flamings and delicate glow-
ings! What dignity, vulgarity, reticence, aban-
don! The Twentieth Century on a salestable !
The pulse of obscene splendour and the sedative
of spinster propriety. "Snappy Stories" and
the "Atlantic"!

Can we do without all this ? Can we do with-
out any part of it? If we wish to do without
any part of it, how are we to accomplish our
wish ? How are wc to discriminate amid the
infinite variety of this vivid, silent invasion,
what members debar, what members admit, and
for what reasons? And who are "we," any-
way?

The magazines come in. They vivify and re-
vivify us throughout the months. What shall
we do with them ?

Let them all continue to come. Because: (1)
Their infinite variety is a stimulus that is on
the whole good for morality and national feel-
ing and national literary industry. (2) No
discrimination, however exercised, could achieve
a good, sufficient to offset the evils of restric-
tion ; and discrimination, once admitted as a
principle, would likely be disastrous as a prac-
tice.

(1) Wise men have argued that the only
real morality is built up out of the inhibitions
of individual experience. Then, if the frivolity
and cheapness of American magazines is affect-
ing Canadian life, Canadian life, out of contact
with the menace, will have to develop its own
antitoxins. It is doubtful if mere protection
from exposure will ever achieve a healthy im-
munity that can be called national morality.
Better let the Canadians who are going to have
their mental measles and chicken-pox and "flu"
from generation to generation, get it over on
the exposure America so freely offers. There
will always be such persons. If "Live Stories"
isn't available to infect them they will wait and
watch until "Jack Canuck" or some other Can-
adian publication develops the particular germ
that will do the trick. This is an admission, of
course, that "Live Stories" may be just as
necessary to our national morality, as, say, "The
Century." I really imagine it could be proven
that this infection isn't a very bad thing at
all. that, unless the patient is marked for dis-
solution any way, most of the cases run through
"Snappy" and "Live Stories" up to the "Blue
Book," the "Popular," "McClures," "Cosmo-
politan," even to "Everybody's," "Scribners"
and the "Canadian," that is, from disease to
comparative health.

All this indiscriminate invasion does not
menace Canadian national feeling. Nobody

April, 1919.

C I A .!/»/. I.\ liunh 1/ I \

ever became an American from reading the
"Red Book," or "The Literary Digest." Even
the "Saturday Evening Post." though it does
know how to create readers, doesn't make Am-
ericans.

Our own literary industry cannot be finally
bettered by the exclusion of American or Eng-
lish or any publications. Our own literary in-
dustry is being stimulated by the very influx
of such. Slowly there is being created a reading
public with an increasing amount of sophisti-
cated appetite and decent taste. As long as
national feeling does not decline, and it is not
declining, the public remains ready to welcome
Canadian work, even to choose it from the
American offering:, other things being nearly
equal. Other things, up to the present, have
not been nearly equal. Canadian work has had
great fundamental qualities, but it has lacked
in cosmopolitan finish and urbanity and the
flair of sophistication, just those qualities which
acquaintance with the infinite variety of the
foreign magazine world will develop. This then:
The American invasion will create appetite and
taste. It will nourish in us the qualities, being
little and young and provincial, we need. It
will make us ready to recognise and welcome
our own beginnings wherever our writers
emerge offering us a Canadian subject matter
in an artistic setting. It will help our own
magazines by preparing for them a public cap-
able of being critical.

(2) One need not say much about the diffi-
culties of discrimination. In the first place,
where would discrimination begin and where
end, and who should discriminate ? Neither a
good and sober Methodist politician of unques-
tioned denominational antecedents nor a Mc-
Gill humorist would avail, to refer to only
two of our prominent citizens. A humorist's
discriminations would be as dangerous as a
Methodist's and both far more dangerous to
morality than the present laissez fairr. A
Methodist is far too certain and a humorist far
too uncertain for morality. I would distrust
a Bureau of Discrimination altogether. I be-
lieve we have no citizen moral enough or pos-
sessed of sufficient insight into the principles
of national well-being to be head of such »
Bureau. Certainly the editor of "Jack
Canuck" would not do, nor any professor or
poet, nor the Minister of Education, nor any
politician, nor any member of the clergy. Some
simple citizen in some remote section of the
countryside might be discovered with the re-
quisite amount of unspoiled instinct ; but the
corset and underwear advertisements in "The

Ladies Home Journal" and II I, Mencken's
column in "The Smart Set" would probably
even then play upon his simplicity and elude

his exclusions; he would mistake the one for

natural phenomena and the other for wisdom

1 should personally lie afraid of a censor be-
cause, even if he were no worse kind of a man,
he might exclude "Tie' Little Review," the
"Liberator" and "Popular Mechanics" with-
out which trio I couldn't know what Ezra
Pound is up to next, or the number of lynch
that occur weekly in the C.X., or how to mend
my Ford car. I admit that Ezra Pound is queer
and the lynchings are horrible and the Ford
makeshifts abominable, but then, who is there
among us who does not cherish his queerness,
his horrors and his abominations, learning there-
by the preciousness of life?

In a word, nobody's instincts are unspoiled
enough for this business of discrimination, even
though we admit such a thing to be theoretically
desirable. Certain philosophizings to the con-
trary, nobody is God, not even J-hn M-e-
N-ght-n. So let us diddle on without setting
any one up among us to usurp the functions
of Deity. We have done enough of that al-
ready and made a wreck of our morality. God
will take care of us. even of the Canadian pub-
lishers, in this matter of magazine reading ma-
terial, about which we are not sure. Some of it
is certainly good. Some of it is certainly bad.
Who of us knows which from which? Let both
grow together until the harvest. The harvest is
the end of the world.

Have a Propaganda

For Our Literature, says

Mary J. L. Black

IN considering the question of the use and
abuse of American periodicals one wishes
to avoid anything that looks like in-
sularity, but the fact remains that there
are grave dangers to our national spirit through
the too extensive use of American periodicals,
to the exclusion of our own. This statement is
true, even if only applied to those excellent
magazines of which any American may well be
proud, for these magazines are edited by Am-
ericans for Americans, and often with the de-
liberate purpose of encouraging a love of and
pride in their country. This is most commend-

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

April, 1919.

able so far as they are concerned, but it is an
entirely different matter when we, as Can-
adians, allow this same literature to vitiate our
national spirit. Loyalty to one 's ' country, just
as to one"s friend, is based on knowledge, re-
spect and pride, and if our citizens get their
reading largely from an American source, how
can we expect them to get this intellectual,
ethical and civic relationship necessary to pro-
duce the Canadian spirit. Surely when one
considers how limited is our field of Canadian
periodical literature, and how difficult to pro-
cure, and how abundant and inexpensive is that
of the American publishers, it is not surprising
that our loyalty is lukewarm, and our interest
atrophied.

The difficulty in developing a periodical lit-
erature of our own is not entirely due to small-
ness of population, or lack of material, or to the
slowness of the trade in encouraging the sale
of such, but rather, to a lack of desire on the
part of the people themselves to read exclusive
Canadian publications. If one can find a rea-
son for this lack, one has got a long way in find-
ing the solution to our problem.

To my mind, the first reason is the lack of
adequate training in our schools in Canadian
history and biography and natural resources.
What opportunity has the average Canadian to
know anything about the picturesque days and
peoples of early Canada or the equally interest-
ing romance associated with our economic and
geographic development? None. Could any-
thing be more barren than the ordinary Can-
adian history text-book? Is it surprising that
the average child looks upon his lessons in Can-
adian history as an unmitigated bore, believing
them to be lacking in everything that makes the
old world history romantic and charming ? With
this lack of knowledge how can they be expect-
ed to have respect or pride, love, or loyalty?
Surely, it would not be a difficult matter to
write a child's history of Canada, that would
give them all the life and activity and romance
that they could possibly desire ! This must be
the first thing done, and put as a text book
into all our schools, and accompanying this new
text book must come a reform in the methods of
teaching the subject. I would like to see a
scholarly and poetic specialist in each school
to handle the history and literature, for only
such a person can give the necessary historic
background, without which deference for one's
flag and national anthem, and an appreciation
of the joy and responsibilities of citizenship, can
never develop.

Concurrently with this movement, the Gov-
ernment should subsidize a certain number of
men of letters, conditionally on their remaining
in ( lanada, and doing their share in building
up, through literature, a Canadian spirit, It
should be one of the duties of these men to pro-
duce suitable magazines to meet the needs of
the various sections of the country, using Can-
adian brains whenever possible, but never hesi-
tating to bring in outside talent if necessary.
These magazines, whether they be of a general
character or those dealing with special lines of
interest, should all possess one aim, namely to
widen one's vision of Canadian history, litera-
ture, national resources, and future possibili-
ties. They should in every way encourage Can-
adian writers and subjects, so that the multi-
tude of Canadians who have been driven out
of the country to seek their fortunes in foreign
lands will gladly return to help in this mighty
work. Of course, such a scheme would cost
money. Why shouldn 't it ? Money is spent on
other forms of propaganda, why not on this, if
in the end, Canadians were taught to know their
country, to take pride in it, and to rejoice in
serving it?

Then, and not till then, the periodical ques-
tion will be largely solved, for we woidd have
no market for the cheap and often injurious
reading that is now pouring into our country,
and the field for even the better type would be
largely reduced when our public are shown that,
excepting in those subjects that are entirely dis-
associated from Canadian interests, the Cana-
dian publisher can supply all his magazine
needs.

Tariff to Protect

Native Literature,

Says Castell Hopkins

I DO not know of any greater influence in the
formation of national lines of thought than
the flooding of this country with alien
literature, ideals, principles and polity. The
combination of a mass of American journals —
cheap, popular, and in many cases lacking in
morals or high development of thought — with
a press which receives practically the whole of
its news about Britain as the head of the Em-
pire, about other countries of the Empire, and

April, 1919.

CANADIAN BOOKMAA

about foreign nations which are the friends and
Allies of Great Britain, through Americans
writing in London for the consumption of Am
erioans in the United States, cannol but train
the youth of our country along American lines
and in a totally foreign view-point of Great
Britain.

What, after all, do we, and especially the
youth of our country, learn from this American-
ization of the sources of all popular knowledge,
except the fact that the United States of Am-
erica dominates the world in culture of a certain
type, in swiftness of thought and rapidity of
action, in capacity for raising armies and build-
ing navies, while Great Britain is sleeping or
dazed ? What do we learn from it except that
American civilization, power, progress, are
greater than those which we inherit and share
in from Britain ? What do we learn except a
continually greater sense of the greatness of
the United States?

Such poisoning of the wells of political
thought cannot fail, in due time, to make our
people non-British, if not actually anti-British.
I do hope that your Symposium will do good in
awakening public thought to the vast issues in-
volved in the training of our people along the
lines naturally taught by a foreign nation to its
own people. After all, we are eight millions to
one hundred millions, and the steady pressure
of United States thought and United States
views of British life, power, naval supremacy
and expansion must influence us in directions
absolutely inimical to our destiny as British na-
tions in a great British Empire.

How this difficulty can be adjusted depends,
in my opinion, first on the granting of a con-
siderable subsidy by the Government to Cana-
dian Press Agencies in London, so as to remove
from our despatches the American atmosphere
with which American writers in London would
naturally surround despatches intended for Am-
ericans in the United States and utilized by our
newspapers in Canada as being infinitely less
expensive than direct Canadian despatches. In
the second place the' matter of magazines de-
pends upon whether the Government will con-
sent to put a duty on these products and thus
encourage native literary work and native pub-
lication. It might be mentioned in passing, also,
that these American magazines are full of every
kind of advertisement calculated to draw people
away from patronizing Canadian manufactur-
ers and Canadian products.

Tax The Advertising

Pages, Suggests Frank

Wise of Macmillans'

Tvmeo Danaos et dona ferentes.

PERHAPS 1 am the last person who should
be asked for an expression on the Ameri-
can Magazine Invasion since I never read
them. Long ago I found even my poor,
simple mind revolted at the "bosh" served
up in the lordly dishes — the chromatic colored
covers — which assail one at the news-stands and
on the trains.

I take it that you accept, as I do, Harper's,
Scribner's and the Century as legitimate, and
worthy of consideration as literature, also the
Atlantic and the like, but what of the nasty,
suggestive picture-covered allurements which
are displayed for our seduction on street cor-
ners, tobacco-shops and trains? "Ginger Tales,"
with an unclad female with golden eyes and
ginger hair on the cover, "Snappy Stories"
with another young person displaying all the
snaps on her scanty underclothing, and the
various "Hot Stuffs" and other abominations
that evidently possess the magic password to
get them past the censor sentry at the border?

Is it not possible also that the movie is respon-
sible for much of this worse than rubbish?
Here again I must plead ignorance, since I
never go to a movie, but judging from the
suggestive posters which one passes outside these
picture "palaces," I (should guess that the
habitue of the average film house has his mind,
or that part of his anatomy residing under his
hair, well attuned to appreciate the various
"Gingers," "Snaps," and "Hot Stuffs" which
he is able to read on Sundays when the film
ceases from reeling and Lesbia is at rest.

This suggests that the churches have good
reason for insisting on this Sunday closing. The
Commandments and their public recital are
surely the special province of the churches, and
it is perhaps only natural that they should be
jealous of the film which fakes a picture of the
Creation and then takes the Commandments
and illustrates them suitably, specializing on
these, let us say, from the sixth to the last, with
extra emphasis on the sixth and seventh.

To translate, freely, my opening quotation —
"I fear the Yanks when they come offering gay-
colored magazines.

CANADIAN BOOK. MAX

April, 1919,

Canadian Poets of the Great War

By W. D. LIGHTHALL

I MUST be pardoned for the far from orig-
inal remark that a period of intense na-
tional exaltation is usually followed by
a period of intense literary activity. The
Augustan Age, the Medicean, the Isabellan, the
Elizabethan, the Louis XIV, the Victorian —
are they not common examples? Sometimes
local difficulties have prevented the sequence,
such as in the United States after the Revolu-
tion, and in Canada after the migration of the
Loyalists — though in the end these movements
have produced profound effects in thought and
expression; for even if the "Great American
novel," and the Great Canadian one, be still
missing, the traditions of Independence and of
United Empire have both been vastly fruitful.
It is fair to prognosticate an intense literary
activity in Canada, as well as elsewhere, in the
near future, resulting from the Great War, and
it is well to scrutinize the straws in the wind
even now, because that literary activity will
not be merely a bookish matter, but a voice is-
suing out of our people's deepest soul.

What took place after that much less stirring,
although momentous event. Confederation 1
Momentous, for Confederation made us a na-
tion. By the way, it is amusing to hear every
now and then that So-and-so "made Canada
a nation." The feat has been attributed to
at least a dozen different gentlemen by their
admirers on fanciful grounds, from time to
time ; and to the C.P.R., and the McKinley
tariff. But regarding even the superior claim
of the Fathers of Confederation, had as many
as two of them any real idea of the effects of
what they were doing, beyond the solution of
the old Provincial deadlock? Was it not only
after the deed was done that the true scope of
it began to dawn on our people?

The word "nation" itself is one used in too
many senses, and needs some standardization
by the British Academic Committee, or, in a
suggestive way, by some such literary body as
The Royal Society of Canada. At any rate a
word used in so many confusing senses as "The
Five Nations" for the Iroquois tribes; "la na-
tion canadienne" for the French-Canadian race,
in Lord Durham's Report, and its French
sources; "It- parti national" for the old Mer-

cier Race Party in Quebec; "the British na-
tion" for the people of the British Isles, and
also for the British Imperial stock; "the Scotch
nation", "the Irish nation," for two dialectic
British provinces represented in the Parliament
of the United Kingdom; "the Imperial nation"
for the British peoples at large, and "the Can-
adian nation" for that part of it municipally
organized in Canada : — a word used in such
a jumble of significations requires definition for
any particular context. When therefore I say
"Confederation made us a nation," what is
meant by the word is, a people brought together
as a working political organism within a certain
territory. This by no means implies a sovereign
state: Canada's nationhood is still a statehood
in the United States of Britain, and perhaps
sooner than we expect may, as part of the Brit-
ish Commonwealth, be combined with a differ-
ent and larger quality still, of membership in
the Federation of the World. Our ultimate
nationality is humanity. I confess to have long
had a hope of a larger Union between the Brit-
ish Empire, France and the United States.
Anyway, Confederation lifted us out of the
pettiness of provincialism. It brought us a ter-
ritory larger than Europe to work in, and a
wondrous ideal of what that new Europe might
become for our seers to sing of.

Thus arose the Confederation School of Can-
adian poets. Why the prose writers lagged be-
hind is another story. The compact and spirit-
ed message of lyric verse is doubtless the main
secret of its influence in an age averse to long
compositions and diluted thought. As the first
anthologist of the Confederation poets, I had
the privilege of intimate acquaintance with the
principal men and women of the school and pre-
serve their letters as valued treasures. Among
them were John Reade (now the delightful
Dean of the guild), Archibald Lampman,
Charles George Douglas Roberts, Bliss Carman,
Charles Mair, Frederick George Scott, Hunter
Duvar, William Wilfred Campbell, Dr. William
Henry Drummond. Duncan Campbell Scott,
John E. Logan, George Murray, George Martin,
William McLennan, "Seranus," Ethelwyn
Wetherald, Agnes Maule Machar, Pauline John-
son and Isabella Valancv ( 'rawford. These ap-
peared practically together like a flight of song-

1919.

r l \ \PI I \ /:o//A 1/ I \

i..

birds From tlir South in April, wafted in by
some mighty wind of the spirit. The birthdates
of most nf them are within a few years of each
other, not far from I860. Roberts had the
greatest promise. The new and spontaneous
pal riot ic outburst of his :

() Child of Nations, giant-limbed

Who stand 'st among the nations now

evoked an immediate emotional
throughout the Dominion:

response

But thou, my Country, dream not thou.

Wake and behold how night is done! —
How on thy breast and o'er thy brow.

Bursts the uprising sun !

and again, his "Ode for the Canadian Confed-
eracy," beginning:

Awake ! my country, the hour is great with
change.

If the song of each of the poets of Confedera-
tion is analyzed we find in it the note of a new
freedom and mastery — a cry which had been
lacking before, of relief from the small provin-
cial outlook, and a devotion to the beauty of this
most beautiful of all lands. Archibald Lamp-
man, for instance, seems at first sight to deal
in themes and measures far away from national
outlook. What have his titles, "Alcyone,"
."The Favorites of Pan," or, "The Story of an
Affinity." to do with Canada? Or "The Frogs"
— those "quaint uncouth dreamers, voices high
and strange?" — by which he told me he really
intended the tree-toads! But in that exquisite
poem, what a picture of the charm of his coun-
try !

And ever as ye piped, on every tree,

The great buds swelled; among the pensive
woods
The spirits of first flowers awoke and flung
From their buried faces the close-fitting
hoods,
And listened to your piping till they fell,
The frail spring-beauty with her perfumed
bell.
The windflowyer, and the spotted adder-tongue.

After all, in his most distant excursions, he was
working at the enrichment of Canadian life. In
"Freedom," he turns to the Laurentians ; paint-
ing in clear, firm tones the new wide land :

Up to the hills, where the winds restore us,
Clearing our eyes to the beauty before us;

Earth with the glory of life on her breast,
Earth with the gleam of her cities and streams.

Lampman's amplest expression of his lovely and
attractive soul, for all who knew him loved

him deeply is liis "Land of l'allas." that noble

picture of the ideal country .

A land where Beauty dwelt supreme; and Right,
the donor
Of peaceful days, a land of equal gifts and
deeds,

Of limitless fair fields, and plenty had with
honor ;
A land of kindly tillage and untroubled
meads.

A land of lovely speech, where every tone was
fashioned
By generations of emotion, high and sweet ,
Of thought and deed and bearing lofty and im-
passioned;
A land of golden calm, grave forms and fret
less feet.

There were no castes of rich or poor, of slave
or master,
Where all were brothers and the curse of gold
was dead;
But all that wise fair race to kindlier ends and
vaster
Moved on together with the same majestic
tread.

That "land of golden calm" was the ideal Can-
ada, the new vision of the community to be, to
which his full heart yearned, and to which he
gave prophetic utterance.

Every one of the Confederation School in-
stinctively contributed his share to the edifice,
some more directly than others. Some were the
landscape artists of our verse, some the histori-
cal composers, others the mystics, others refin-
ed musicians in the art of words. None com-
posed with more Celtic passion of patriotism
than the late William Wilfred Campbell. Of
him one could always feel that he was the
thoroughgoing poet, his own first convert to
his message, untamed in soul, unapologetic for
art, the incarnation of noble earnestness, a des-
piser of ignoble things and ignoble men :

Earth's dream of poetry will never die.

Wrong cannot kill it. Man's material scheme

May scorn its uses, worship baser hope

Of life's high purpose, build about the world

A brazen rampart : through it all will come

The iron moan of life's unresting sea;

And through its floors, as filtered blooms of

dawn,
Those flowers of dream will spring, eternal,

sweet.

'Tis the name that the world repeats.

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

April, 1919.

Till the last great freedom is found,

And the last great truth is taught,
Till the last great deed is done,

And the last great battle is fought,
Till the last great fighter is slain in the last
great fight,

And the warwolf is dead in his den,
England, breeder of hope and valor and might,

Iron mother of men.

The Confederation School indeed expressed
something which was at the root of the chival-
rous conduct of our young Canadians in the
Great War. They both expressed and inspired

it.

It would be very easy to trace the elements
of the common task in the product of others of
the school. I shall quote a brief distinctive note
from two of its eminent members.

Frederick George Scott wrote the following
inscription for the Soldiers' Monument at Que-
bec:

Not by the power of Commerce, Art or Pen
Shall our great Empire stand, nor has it
stood,

But by the noble deeds of noble men,
Heroic lives and heroes' outpoured blood.

And from Duncan Campbell Scott may be chos-
en the exquisite sonnet:

OTTAWA.

Before Dawn.
The stars are stars of mom; a keen wind

wakes
The birches on the slope ; the distant hills,
Rise in the vacant North; the Chaudiere fills
The calm with its hushed roar; the river takes
An unquiet rest, and a bird stirs, and shakes
The morn with music; a snatch of singing

thrills
Prom the river; and the air clings and chills.

Fair in the South ; fair as a shrine that makes
The wonder of a dream, imperious towers,
Pierce and possess the sky, guarding the halls,
Where our young strength is welded strenuous-
ly ;
While in the East the Star of morning dowers
The land with a large tremulous light, that falls
A pledge and presage of our destiny.

The Great War is vastly more stirring as an
era than Confederation was. We are passing
through the Valley of the Shadow of Death,
and many of our sons have crossed the dark
river itself and disappeared into the night.
Pierce tests are forging men and will turn into
our home life a stern and determined army,
hating shams, not afraid of true revolutions,
and accustomed to ideals, although singularly
silent about them. Momentous views and pro-

found feelings have already begun to find some
utterance here as well as in other allied lands.
By examining the body of scattered verse from
Canadian pens, we may hope to construct a dim
picture of our coming poetic generation. Never
mind the form. The mass must be regarded in
the same light as those absorbing wash-and-pen-
cil drawings, which come from the front, whose
interest lies in their transcript character —
transcripts of hourly trial and danger; of in-
cidents of battle; of sad and tragic partings
with the dying brave ; of regimental losses in the
charge; of heroic merriment under the miseries
and privations of the winter dugout, the cold,
the flooded trenches and the Flanders mud.

Naturally, several of the surviving Confedera-
tion Poets overlap the nascent After- War School
by treating of such themes. Frederick George
Scott has served at the front as chaplain since
1914, has lost one son killed in action and has
seen another part with an eye by a German bul-
let. Out of the fulness of his heart he has
composed several of our finest poems on the
war. Charles G. D. Roberts, who also holds a
commission at the front, Duncan Campbell
Scott, Wilfred Campbell, Mrs. Harrison ("Ser-
anus"), Mrs. Isabella Ecclestone Mackay, and
Miss Machar, have all contributed to the ex-
pression of war life. And Robert W. Service
— who might be called a belated member of the
Confederation School, because of his creation
of the poetic Yukon— and Theodore Goodridge
Roberts, brother of C. G. D., are doing good
work in France. All these writers of pre-war at-
tainment are giving our war verse some, of its
first forms and part of its lines of impulse. By
reason of their previous experience, they
promptly seize some of its characteristics. Yet
it is a question whether they do or do not have,
in their previous training, a disadvantage as
well as an advantage over the new writers who
will be wholly inspired by the new era.

The Great War period itself must be regard-
ed as a new starting point, the foundation of
the After-War literary edifice.

What then do we find in this Great War
period, now evidently shaped with considerable
distinctness? Is it not the following qualities:

1. Dreadful experiences.

2. Supreme heroism.

3. Ideals of fidelity— Chivalry, honor, pat-
riotism to Canada, Empire, and humanity.

4. Hatred of Wrong.

From these have resulted self-confidence, inten-
sity of convictions, directness of view, dignity
and new outlook, — strong elements of impulse

April. L919.

C I V IDIAS HOOKMAS

which are certain to lead to constructive action
in the near future, and thai action will, when
it arrives at maturity in our national affairs,
necessarily flow along the Lines of those experi-
ences, ideals and impulses.

Canon Scott, the heroic chaplain, always in
the thick of danger and adored by the men,
gives the following, among his "Poems written
at the Front":

THE SILENT TOAST.

They stand with reverent faces,

And their merriment give o'er.
As they drink the toast to the unseen host.

Who have fought and gone before.

It is only a passing moment,

In the midst of the feast and song,

But it grips the breath, as the wing of death
In a vision sweeps along. •

No more they see the banquet,

And the brilliant lights around,
But they charge again on the hideous plain

When the shell-bursts rip the ground.

Or they creep at night, like panthers,
Through the waste of No Man's Land,

Their hearts afire with a wild desire
And death on every hand ;

And out of the roar and tumult,
Or the black night loud with rain,

Some face comes back from the fiery track
And looks in their eyes again.

And the love that is passing woman's

And the bonds that are forged by death

Now grip the soul with a strange control
And speak what no man saith ;

The vision dies off in the stillness,

Once more the tables shine,
But the eyes of all in the banquet hall

Are lit with a light divine.
Vimy Ridge, April. 1917.

In "Requiescant" he sees the same "unseen
host."

In lonely watches night by night,
Great visions burst upon my sight,
For down the stretches of the sky,
The hosts of dead go marching by.

Strange ghostly banners o'er them float,
Strange bugles sound an awful note;
And all their faces and their eyes
Are lit with starlight from the skies.

Robert W. Service, the "Red Cross Man,"
(who lost his brother. Lieutenant Albert Ser-
vice, killed in action in 1916) has sought his
subject with a sure instinct:

OVER THE PARAPET.

All day long when the shells sail over,

I stand ;it the sandbags and take my chance;

But at night, at night. I'm a reckless rovt
And over the parapet gleams Romance.
Romance: Romance! How ['ve dreamed it.

writing
Dreary old records of money and mart,
Me with my head chock full of fighting,

And the blood of vikings to thrill my heart!

But little I thought that my time was coming,

Sudden ami splendid, supreme and soon;
And here I am with the bullets humming,

As 1 crawl and I curse the light of the moon;
Out alone, for adventure thirsting!

Out in mysterious No .Man's Land!
Prone with the dead when a star shell bursting.

Flares on the horrors on every hand.

Theodore Goodridge Roberts gives us such
stanzas as this:

A CANADIAN DAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 1916.

Steady they come, as those who had come in the
morning,
Unshaken they passed where the bursting
barrage was set;
They passed their victorious comrad.es; they
passed to their goal — ■
The machine-gunned houses and gardens of
Courcelette.

Into and through it, they flamed like fire
through stubble;
With death before them, behind them, and
swift in the air;
They struck stark fear to the hearts of the
craven f oemen ;
With bomb and steel they dug the Boehe from
his lair.

September the Fifteenth. That was a day of
glory,
With blood, with life, they captured the fort-
ress town ;
While far away, in the dear land they died for,
In frosty coverts the red leaves fluttered
down.

Others of the older writers, who have not been
at the front, have also been stirred by phases
of the struggle. Duncan Campbell Scott has
seen the vision of the aviator's soul in his Mil-
tonic "Lines on a Canadian Aviator who died
for his Country in France."

But Death, who has learned to fly.
Still matchless when his work is to be done,

Met thee between the armies and the sun;
Thy speck of shadow faltered in the sky; '

Then thy dead engine and thy broken' wings
Drooped through the arc and passed in fire;^

A wreath of smoke, — a breathless exhalation ;
But ere that came, a vision sealed thine eyes,

c WADFAN BOOKMAN

April, 1910.

Lulling thy senses with oblivion;
And from its sliding station in the skies

Thy dauntless soul upward in circles soared
To the sublime and purest radiance whence it
sprang.

Robert Stanley Weir's "Treason" gives vig-
orous voice to the intense anger at traitors :

TREASON.

To.

Because when your own Mother had sore need ;

Because you knew it well and would not heed ;
Because, though ruffians from the raging Rhine

Assailed with roar her very door;
You said Her quarrel is not mine.
Because of this :
Yours shall forever be a name to hiss!

Because not only have you failed to fight,

At Armageddon 'gainst all Devil's might;
But held your brothers back when they would

g°.

Blinding their eyes with dastard lies
So that they went not up against the foe ;
Because of this;
Yours shall forever be a name to hiss.

From Samuel Mathewson Baylis, author of
the volumes "Camp and Lamp," and "At the
Sign of the Beaver," come good fighting lines:

THOROUGHBRED.

All unafraid, as sire the seed,

Indomitable, undismayed,
Fronts the ringed teeth of mongrel breed

All unafraid.

If few the greater honor paid ! —
Adown the years our Henry's creed
Still fires high souls in arms arrayed.

Though eyes be dim and torn hearts bleed,

On ! still unshaken, firmly stayed,
They greatly rise to greater need.

All unafraid !

It would be invidious and inopportune to at-
tempt a list of the others who have written well.

But the deepest interest lies in that often
formless mass of new utterance which is welling
up day by day hot from the lifesprings of the
new generation. The famous lines of Lt.-Col.
John McCrae, who lately died of pneumonia at
the McGill Hospital, Boulogne, are inseparable
from the Great War.

One of these dead in Flanders' fields, Lieuten-
ant Bernard Freeman Trotter, who was killed
by a high explosive shell on May 7th, 1917,
wrote passages of lofty feeling. He exclaims
while detained by ill-health from enlisting:

0 God, the blood of Outram in these veins

( 'ries shame upon the doom that dams it there

1 n useless impotence, while the red torrent runs
In glorious spate for Liberty and Right.

O to have died that day at Langemarck!
In one fierce moment to have paid it all !
The debt of Life to Earth and Hell and Heaven.
To have perished nobly in a noble cause,
Untarnished, unpolluted, undismayed,
By the dark world's corruption ; to have passed,
A flaming beacon light to gods and men,
For in the years to come it shall be told
How these laid down their lives not for their

homes,
Their orchards, fields, and cities ; they were

driven
To slaughter by no tyrant's lust for power;
Of their free manhood's choice they crossed the

sea,
To save a stricken people from its foe
They died for justice. Justice owes them this ;
That what they died for, be not overthrown.

And again : —

0 happy dead, who sleep embalmed in glory,

Safe from corruption, purified by fire!

We shall grow old and tainted with the rotten

Effluvia of the peace we fought to win;

But you have conquered Time, and sleep for-
ever,

Like gods with a white halo on your brows ;

Your souls our lodestars, your death-crowned
endeavour

The spur that holds the nations to their vows.

These words, written in France in April,
1917, were the last he wrote before he himself
"conquered Time, and slept forever."

The verses from Lt. Peregrine Acland's poem
"The Reveille of Romance" which I am about
to quote show the spirit of high resolve and the
imaginative outlook which actuated those who
sprang to arms at the first call. This spirit up-
held many throughout the stress of the cam-
paigns. The author, who wrote the lines at sea
on his way to the front, proved himself a fine
soldier, received the Military Cross, was pro-
moted to the rank of Major and was severely
wounded.

Regret no more the age of arms,
Nor sigh, "Romance is dead."

Out of life's dull and dreary maze
Romance has raised her head.

From East and West and South and North

The hosts are crowding still ;
The long rails hum as troop-trains come

By valley, plain and hill ;

And whence came yearly argosies
Laden with silks and corn,

April. 1919.

C i \ i/'/ I \ BOOKMAh

Vast fleets of countless armed men
O'er tin' broad seas arc borne.

Though warriors fall like frosted leaves

Before November winds,
They only lose what all must lose,

But find what none else finds.

Their bodies lie beside the way,

In trench, by barricade,
Discarded by the titan Will

That shatters what it made.

Poor empty sheaths, they mark the course

Of spirits bold as young;
"Whatever checked that fiery charge

As dust to dust was flung.

For terrible it is to slay

And bitter to be slain,
But joy it is to crown the soul

In its heroic reign.

And better far to make or mar,

Godlike, but for a day,
Than pace the sluggard's slavish round

In life-long, mean decay.

Who sighs, then, for the Golden Age!

Romance has raised her head,
And in the sad and sombre days

Walks proudly o'er your dead.

The women have contributed largely. Mrs.
Annie Bethune Macdougald speaks the gift of
the mothers:

WAR DEBT.

Some pay the tax in riven gold,
But we in blood and tears,

Heart throbs, lone vigils, and passionate tend-
ance through the years;

First bending low to cull the drifting smile of
sleeping innocence incarnate

Then level, eye to eye, with love's divining
glance,

Would read the riddle of the dawning man in-
nate ;

Held hostage still by roguish straight-limbed
youth

And then with lifted eyes do we behold the
flower

Of manly strength stand up above us

And then, with miser fingers, we con the hoard-
ed treasure of the years

And wonder, even as Mary, all human, all
divine ;

That all such fair investment of fine gold,

Should buy us but a crown of glistening, bitter
tears.

'Tis thus we women pay.

.Miss Helen Coleman,
"Marching Men War
of

in her volume entitled
s" has thoughts

AUTI'.MX, 1917.

Are there young hearts in France recalling
These dream-filled, blue Canadian days,

When gold and scarlet flames are falling
From beech and maple set ablaze?

Pluck they again the pale wild aster
The bending plume of golden-rod?

And do their exiled hearts beat faster,
Roaming in thought their native sod ;

Dream they of Canada, crowned and golden,
Flushed with her autumn diadem.

In years to come, when time is olden,
Canada's dream shall be of them;

Shall be of them who gave for others,
The ardor of their radiant years;

Your name in Canada's heart, my brothers,
Shall be remembered long with tears.

Some of these poets have been inspired to
verse for the first time in their lives. Miss
Esther Kerry, a young lady of a well-known
and gifted family of Montreal, who served in
England as a V.A.D. nurse, wrote one day in
London these happy lines:

HE IS A CANADIAN.

He is a Canadian — I wonder has he stood

In some thick forest, on a mountain slope,

Silent beneath a pine.

And looking out across a valley seen

Nothing but bristling tree trunks far below

And storm-scarred grey mountains

Whose snow-caps

Rise to a sun-swept blue.

He is a Canadian — I wonder has he stood

On some still morning by a tiny lake

And watched the water ripple on the beach, —

One little clearing

In the mighty woods —

And known that he is first to breathe that air

Not weighted by a thousand lives and thoughts,

But rare and pure,

A breathing straight from God.

Oh, Canada, of bigness, beauty, strength,
Whom we thy wondering children know as

ne'er before
In exile's retrospect of glorious hours,
We love thee with a love we never felt till now,
A love not all our own, a heritage
From those who to thy shores no more return.
Their love of thee, unconscious, pent,
Which drove them forth, they knew not why
And urged them on
All glad for thee to die.
In this great love may we be consecrate

•20

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

April, 1919.

And made a nation new,
Strong as thy mountains,
Generous as thy plains,
Pure as thy winters,
And with depths unknown
As all thy forest lakes —
Still pools of peace.

And a lovely lament is the elegy "A Cry
from the Canadian Hills" by Lillian Leveridge
of Carrying Place, Ont., over her young brother
Frank, who died of wounds in France:

Laddie, little laddie, come with me over the

hills,
Where blossom the white May lilies and the

dogwood and daffodils ;
For the spirit of spring is calling to our spirits

that love to roam;
Over the hills of home, laddie, over the hills

of home.

Laddie, little laddie, here's hazel and meadow
rue,

And wreaths of the rare arbutus ablowing for
me and you ;

And cherry and bilberry blossoms and haw-
thorn as white as foam ;

We'll carry them all to mother, laddie, over
the hills of home;

Brother, little brother, your childhood is pass-
ing by,

And the dawn of a noble purpose I see in your
thoughtful eye.

Laddie, soldier laddie, a call comes over the sea,
A call to the best and bravest in the land of

liberty,
To shatter the despot's power, to lift up the

weak that fall ;
Whistle a song as you go, laddie, to answer your

country's call.

Brother, soldier brother, the spring has come

back again;
But her voice from the windy hilltops is calling

your name in vain ;
For never shall we together, mid the birds and

the blossoms roam,
Over the hills of home, brother, over the hills

of home;

Laddie, Laddie, Laddie ! How dim is the sun-
shine grown ;

As Mother and I together speak softly in ten-
der tone,

And the lips that cpiiver and falter have ever a
single theme.

As we list for your dear lost whistle, laddie,
over the hills of dream.

Some new Western men have written well.
Robert J. C. Stead, of Calgary, has given not-
able verses on "Kitchener," among others in

his volume "Kitchener and Other Poems."
This dirge strikes the chord of Empire :

KITCHENER,

Weep, waves of England. Nobler clay
Was ne'er to nobler grave consigned;

The wild waves weep with us today
Who mourn a nation's master mind.

We hoped an honored age for him,
And ashes laid with England's great,

And rapturous music, and the dim

Deep hush that veils our Tomb of State.

But this is better. Let him sleep
Where sleep the men who made us free,

For England's heart is in the deep
And England's glory is the sea;

One only vow above his bier —
One only oath beside his bed —

We swear our flag shall shield him here
Until the sea gives up its dead :

Leap, waves of England. Boastful be.

And fling defiance in the blast
For earth is envious of the Sea,

Which shelters England's dead at last.

Hyman Edelstein, a young Jew of Montreal,
introduces one of the strangest notes of the in-
credible contest, when he voices the gratitude
of Canadian Israel regarding the Restoration of
Palestine, — the re-wedding of the Holy Land
to the Chosen People, — in which indeed a num-
ber of our young Canadian soldiers took part :

ZION IS FREE!

From Lebanon comes a shout of glee.
And Carmel echoes long.

And Jordan sings with a newfound rhyme

And the valleys ring with the mingled chime.
As the trees whirl in a rustling dance,
Over the strange divine romance :

Shulamith and her lost are met —

Zion and Judah are lovers yet !

What saith the Jordan to the sea?
And thou. Old Kishon, what aileth thee?

Why run the rivers with hurrying gait?

And what the tidings they relate
To the fields that can no longer wait,
And the woods that with wild joy vibrate? —

0 it is the 'Earth of Israel' singing,
Which feels the tread of her children's feet,
And it is the shout of the strong hills ringing
Which thus their ancient tenant greet:
Zion is free ! Zion is free !
My children, my children, come back to me !

Yielding to the urgings of friends, I take the
anthologist's privilege of inserting some lines
of mv own :

April, L919

r \\ |/)/ | \ BOOB I/. I \

THE GALAHADS.

Yet Taint above the din, on ether borne,
A clear voice rang the ancient battle cries:
"Freedom and honor! truth and chivalry!
St. George, defend thy pledges unto death!
St. George, defend tin- weak, and save the

world!"
And all true sons of Britain felt it vain
To live, unless as British Imights of old,

Then lo! with reverence and pride we saw
The knights of old appear, — Sir Galahads,
None purer, none more brave. They had been

known
Till then hut as the schoolboys of the camps,
Carefree and merry, warming elder blood
By pranks of diving, reckless climbing feats
Dp sheerest precipices. Trackless wilds
Knew them as tenters. The shy beaver heard
Their paddles unafraid. Widely they ranged
The peaks and dales uncharted, seeking risks
For love of danger and the jest with Death.

Yesterday they were children. Scarcely yet
Knew we they needed less our tender care,
Until some grave look or some manly deed
Warned us the soul was ripe. We pondered then.

So came the world's great need and Honor's call,
And silent, modest, up they rose to serve, —
Then in our wonder we beheld them men
And saw the Knights of Arthur's Table stand
Before us in their sacred panoply.
Little they said and naught delayed their go-
ing,
Farewells to launch, canoe, fair lake and range,
A tender word to mother, and forth they fared,
As thousands like them fared from lake and

stream.
Crusaders of the Grail. Rude knights were

some
But knightly all : God loves all faithful men.

Galahads of the camps ! For this you learnt
The fearless life and strenuous company
Of the wild North, contempt of hurt and cold,
Joy of unmeasured contest, wit to meet
Emergency, deft skill and steady nerve.
What seemed but sport was training, and the

best
Was inner, — loyal will and heart humane.
And in your battles you remembered oft
The mountains of the Land of Manitou.

Some shall return with honor, henceforth called
The heroes of the world. But where are those
Who never shall return?

Alas! to earthly eyes they sleep afar
In fields of glory famed to end of time.
Yet ever shall they clothe these leafy hills
With visions of the noblest deeds of men
And hold before Canadian youths to come
The quest eternal of the Holy Grail.

Having now taken a survey, more "r less in-
complete, of our war verse, we may try to meas-
ure its place and divine its future. In what
qualities docs it differ from the large and well-
developed body of war poetrj of the rest of the
English speaking world" Two interesting com-
parisons are easily made. One is with the An-
thology called "Poems of Today" in which
some of the besl things of the recent English
poets regarding the war arc collected: the other
is with the "Poems and Songs of the South
African War" brought together by the late Dr.
J, 1). Borthwick (who was somewhat over lib-
eral in his inclusions). The great South Afri-
can contest looks today almost an excursion by
the side of monstrous Armageddon, and the out-
put of verse it occasioned might be contained in-
a leaflet. Yet on reflection, its national and
even literary impulse was not negligible, and
had a much larger result than is generally sup-
posed. And it had a definite and close rela-
tion to, and influence upon, our part in Arma-
geddon.

In technique, only a small part of our poetry
of the present war compares with the product of
such British writers as Kipling, Binyon, Mase-
field, Rupert Brooke, Henry Newbolt. And
in volume, it is of course but a little stream.
Perhaps in both these respects — technique and
volume — it may equal the work of the poets of
the United States. But in three aspects it is
unexcelled : no other verse is more bathed in
the blood and agony of bitter struggle : none
speaks from a soul of more uneompelled and
undiluted chivalry ; and none other proceeds
specifically from our Canadian point of view,
and so to speak courses directly in our national
veins. It has indeed a notable relation to the
whole present and subsequent revolution which
the war is bringing, and is to bring, into the life
of nations. All over the world these common
impulses are taking form, and all humanity will
surely aim at closer links of fraternity, mercy,
justice and liberty and the attempt to establish
a better world.

It is bound up, too, with the incoming tide of
vital changes in the British Commonwealth. We
have made it clear that the Empire is a living
family, that all its people are our brethren, all
its territory our country, its greatness our pride,
its unity our concern, its organization one of
our tasks, its future one of our grandest hopes.
Those who have dreamed the British Common-
wealth would fall apart have proved as foolish
as those who proclaimed that chivalry is a myth.

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

April, 1919.

The office of our war verse will be to apply
the deep lessons of the struggle to the making
of a better Canada as well as a more secure
Empire. Racial passions, appetites for domin-
ation, ignorance, cowardice, materialistic ideals,
will receive strong shocks from the forces of the
new crusade; and the next generation will see
many resultant changes in Canadian affairs.
Few ideals are ever perfectly successful here be-
low. But just as certainly, they form an en-
riching alloy when poured into the baser metal
of the world : and just as certainly the world is
advanced by each, to some extent. The law of
conservation of moral energy is as valid and
exact as the law of conservation of physical en-
ergy. None is ever lost. Whoever does a heroic
deed, whoever enshrines it in a lyric line, have
both achieved something immortal and eternal
in their influence. The poets of Confederation
had and will have a profound though noiseless
influence. So will the War School. And as the
war is a greater, wider, nobler event for us than
Confederation, its influence will be so much the
stronger.

But are those who have already written on
the War the whole of our War School of Can-
adian poets? Are they not rather the precur-
sors ? In Pisgah view, I think I descry the real
school as yet to come. The Confederation Poets
came chiefly after Confederation. The War
School will, I believe, appear chiefly after the
war. Young men and women of genius — some

probably returned from the contest — will cele-
brate its glorious deeds, will drink deep inspir-
ation from that brilliant band of heroes who are
already beginning to render our circles illustri-
ous with their presence, develop the depths of
feeling, the stirring calls to action, the pictur-
esque adventures, the world-wide range of inter-
ests, the passion for true living, the insistent
calls for a better people, for improved institu-
tions, for a more dignified civilization, worthy
of the new, hardwon tradition of Canadian
valor, which is to go down to our children and
children's children.

This is our Homeric Age. There never will
be a greater fight. There never will be a vaster
battlefield. There never will be richer experi-
ences, more terrible shadows, more tragic trials,
more glorious courage, more splendid triumphs,
a higher tide of Empire, a worthier cause to
live and die for.

The art of song cannot hurriedly attain to fit
celebration of this epic period. The poets may
perhaps not yet be born who shall invent utter-
ances that shall be truly worthy of the innumer-
able heroic achievements, the Galahadic dedi-
cations to the supreme sacrifice, the wonderful
idealism of the whole crusade. The story is too
grand to be forgotten. It will sound the trum-
pet of the breast until it finds and calls out our
supreme minstrel to supremely chant our Idylls
of the Heroes.

Literary Convention

By J. E. MIDDLETON

I MET a sweet, alluring maid
In furbelows of fair brocade.
"0 come," I said, "enchanting queen,
Be my Romantic Heroine.

"Ah, tempt me not," she answered low.
"To Editors I dare not go,
For each of them, or small or great,
Demands my birth certificate."

' ' And then, he cries — I tell you true —
'A heroine? — at thirty-two?'
Discredited your Art would be
Because of ancient, doddering me."

April, 1919.

CAXAMAN HOOKMAA

Free Verse and the Parthenon

By RAMSAY TRAQUAIR

ABOUT the beginning of the Nineteenth
Century Pugin proclaimed certain ideals
in architecture regarding honesty of treat-
ment and directness in design. The ideals were
preached again by John Ruskin in the fifties,
and in the seventies came to some practical
realization in the work of William Morris and
the school of "Arts and Crafts." They have so
strong a resemblance to Ezra Pound's princi-
ples for poetry as to encourage some compari-
son both of the principles themselves and of
their results.

Ezra Pound says, to quote from the Canadian
Bookman, "There must be no book-words, no
periphrases, no inversions . . no cliches, set
phrases, no inversions, no straddled adjectives."
His ideals are: —

(1) Direct treatment.

(2) Use absolutely no word that does not
contribute to the presentation. Use no super-
fluous word, no adjective which does not re-
veal something, avoid abstraction-1

(3) As regards rhythm, compose in the se-
quence of the musical phrase, not in sequence
of a metronome. The rhythm must correspond
exactly to the shade of emotion to be expressed.

These principles seem truisms, necessary to
all good prose and not in the slightest peculiar
to poetry, but their application has led Ezra
Pound to "free verse."

The architectural principles of the "Arts a; id
Crafts" school are, in corresponding order: —

(1) Structural treatment. The structure is
the architecture.

(2) Use no ornament that does not contri-
bute to the effect and avoid all meaningless,
merely archaeological and common-place on.,,
ment.

(3) A building must correspond exactly in
structure and in emotional feeling with its pur-
pose. Its architecture must not conceal that
purpose.

These principles are as unexceptionable as
the former, yet, though they were proclaimed a
century ago, they have not yet revolutionised
architecture. They have produced some very
charming results in domestic architecture, in
furniture and in similar arts, but the monu-
mental building still relies upon old forms.

Of course, the two arts are ruled by differ-
ent conditions. The poet can write what he
likes and publication is not necessary to his art.

The architect can only design a building if
somebody wants it. A mere paper design is
only an embryo; actual building is necessary to
develop the design. The difficulty for the
architect is not to formulate principles — that
was done a century ago— but to practice them.
One school has proclaimed that structure is
all in all. If we construct honestly, ignoring
mere adhesive ornament, the result will be a
truthful expression and therefore beautiful, for
"truth is beauty." We must hide nothing, ig-
nore nothing and add nothing. Thus the brick

A CORNER OF THE PARTHENON.

factory building is the "free verse" of archi-
tecture. And very like some "free verse" it
is. Yet this school has it triumphs. The battle-
ship is constructed on just these principles and,
artistically, is an expression of grim power.
The Forth Bridge is pure structure and is
beautiful.

Quite apart from the client's prejudice, there
is difficulty in building a city on these lines.
A city hall, well planned and honestly built, of

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

April, 1919.

sound yellow brick — and nothing else — would
not be satisfactory. Even the most insurgent
rebel would acknowledge that the old-fashioned
cliches of architecture, the "orders." the col-
umns and pediments, do add something. They
may be poor things, they might be improved
upon, but they are better than nothing, and it
is very hard to replace them. The Corinthian
capital took about four centuries to design and
it is difficult to produce a new one on the
spur of the moment.

So let us look at the cliche, the well-worn
phrase. Architecture is full of it. The whole
apparatus of the "orders," the historic
"styles." the crockets and pinnacles and tracery

LINCOLN CATHEDRAL.
Nave Looking East, Showing the Effect
Unbroken Continuation of the Rhythm.

windows, what are they all but cliches. We may
try to keep them fresh, to use them honestly
and only where necessary, but, at bottom they
are old forms re-used and, so far, even great
artists have not found it possible to dispense
with them.

But has literature — good literature— always
done without the cliche. Homer uses it freely.
"Glaukopis Athene," "dios Odysseus," "Ton
d'apameibomenos prosephe." Homer is in
fact full of early journalese. Even the Bible
uses well worn phrases — "Verily, verily I say

unto you" — and gains power thereby. The
"Phrase" has a power. Used in its place it
produces an effect which could not otherwise
be produced. It is a justifiable tool, though it
may be abused.

But these are problems of all good writing and
do not go to the root of poetry. We must come
to the more important problems of form and
rhythm. Should poetry have a regular form and
a continuous rhythm or should form and rhythm
vary with the changing thought and emotion of
the poem? In architecture we distinguish two
ideals.

The Parthenon, the perfect classic building,
is complete in form. It cannot be added to,
nor can one stone be taken away without de-
stroying the artistic unity of the design. The
simple rectangle of columns is bounded below
by the steps, above by the cornice. The roof
and eaves are unbroken by spire, tower or pin-
nacle. The form is single and complete. Built
by Greek builders ten centuries later, the
church of Santa Sophia at Constantinople is
artistically a unit. It is more complex than
the Parthenon, but it is still an indivisible unit
in design. Roman art is dominated by the same
spirit. The greatest of all Roman buildings is
the Pantheon. It is a unit in design. No part
can be taken away; architecturally there are
no parts to take. No part can be added, there
is no room for an addition, and today it stands
as it was built save for decoration.

The Northern Cathedral is different. We
may, and our ancestors occasionally did, pull
down the western front, add a few bays and
build a new facade. We may add a choir, aisles,
chapels, cloisters, chantries, in what profusion
we wish. The building will be artistically im-
proved, for its beauty is in diversity.

This tendency seems to be stronger as we move
from South to North. The French Cathedral
has more unity than the English, though less
than the Parthenon.

It is more than a coincidence that this is also
the case in poetry. The strictest form of poetry,
the sonnet, is Italian ; the looser forms, like the
ballad, are northern. Classic poetry is control-
led by syllables, English by accents. Perhaps
we may even venture upon a definition of those
much abused terms "classic" and "romantic."
Classic is the formal art of the south, loving
perfection and unity, romantic is the looser art
of the north, loving richness and diversity. Who
shall say that either is the better?

Now as to rhythm. All good architecture is
rhythmic. Monumental architecture is intense-

April, L919,

( i \ i/'/.i.\ BOOR 1/ I \

lv and regularly so, and the irregular rhythms

arc only to be found in domestic and in un

monumental work.
The rhythms of a cathedral nave are easily

analysed in, say, Lincoln. Dominant is Un-
steady slow heat of the nave arches, soaring to
a greal pause at the crossing, then subsiding

to the steads beat, heat, heat of the choir.
Above is the doubled heat of the triforiiim, twq
beats to each beat of the nave, then a pause
whilst we pass the vaulting pier, then again two

heats. Beat, beat pause heat, beat- pause.

Above this again is the complicated rhythm of
clerestory window and vault alternating in

WELLS CATHEDRAL.

Nave Looking East, Showing the Effect of a

Sudden Interruption of the Rhythm.

window — vault bay — window, often very com-
plex but dominated by the steady bass accom-
paniment of the nave arcade. As in simple
music, the ornamentation, the rich melody, is
above, the rhythmic accompaniment is below.
The significant ornaments, the painted stories
of saints, the armorial bearings of patrons, are
all high up and are ruled in form by the simple
regular measure of the structure. St. Paul may
be more important than St. Peter, his window-
is just the same size.

The rhythm of the Parthenon is very simi-
lar, but simpler and more exact. Below is the

steady even heat of the columns, above is the

doubled beal of the triglyphs and metopes, two
accents to each column bay. above that again
the quadruple heal of the mulules all bound in
at the lop by thi' single arrhythmic line (if the

cornice. Here, too. the rich and significant orna-
ment is not at the base, but high up on the
building in the metopes ami pediment8. It is
controlled by the spacing of the columns and
the form of the building. The wars of the
Lapiths and the Centaurs have to accommodate
themselves to the squares of the metopes;
Athena must lie born in a triangle. This strict
limitation of artistic form is good and right, nor
could we imagine it otherwise.

.lust as correct metre will not make a fine
poem, so regular rhythm will not make a fine
building. When, in the enthusiasm of the Greek
revival, copies of the Parthenon appeared from
Edinburgh to Nashville (Tenn.), they were all
complete failures. The subject matter, the
strictly tied ornament, could not be reproduced.
The delicacies of curve and refinement under-
lying the regular columniation were overlook-
ed and without these the copy was-lifeless. These
copies are in architecture what Pope's "Iliad"
is in poetry; they are a good deal too correct.
But they were not wrong because they were
rhythmic, they were wrong because they were,
firstly, uninteresting, and secondly, in the
wrong place.

In keeping with the simplicity of all Greek
thought, the Parthenon has only one rhythmic
form, and is a poem in a single metre, varied
with the most exquisite skill without ever break-
ing the beat. Our English cathedrals have many
metres, each suited to its purpose. The rhythms
differ in nave and aisles and chapels, but in
each part the rhythm is consistent and unbrok-
en. A cathedral is a poem of many varying
stanzas.

We all know the charm of the irregular
rhythm, the picturesque farm group in which
each piece expresses its own thought. The com-
fortable house, slightly formal in its door and
windows, the great barn, the low irregular lines
of outbuildings, and perhaps the sudden soar-
ing of a windmill or a watertower. It is often
very beautiful, with the beauty of natural land-
scape. We may indeed ask : Is not the love of
landscape in art, with its irregular rhythms, an-
other Northern manifestation on a par with the
informal poetry of the North? Certainly the
modern school of landscape painting arose in
England and the great landscape painters are
northern. Southern and classic art is interested

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

April, 1919.

in persons more than in nature, in form more
than in color.

Ezra Pound does not care
metronome. Let him listen
his own heart and he will
human metronome. A very
his own rhythm and he w
no more. It is little wonder
great art is metronomic. But

for the beat of the
to the beatings of
find that he is a
slight variation in
ould write poetry
then that so much
should the thought

vary with each line? Rhyme has no doubt often
suggested thought. How often has the desire for
irregular rhythm led to irregular thought? Is
not rhythm, regular rhythm, the very essence
of poetry? No monotonous tum-tumming or
perfect scansion, but the steady and sustained
beat which dominates and unifies the ornament.
In architecture certainly a regular rhythmic
form has been found necessary to the greatest
art.

Little Grey Mother

By J. M. GIBBON

ITTLE Grey Mother !"
So they have named her,
No one has tamed her,
No one has shamed her — •
Grey in her glory,
Grey in her story
Of sea-fight and foray,
Grey yet so sweet.
Is there another
Lighter of feet

Than the Little Grey Mother?

Little Grey Mother!

Sweeter her flush is

Than the rose blushes

On the briar bushes;

Scent of the heather,

Mist of sea-weather

Mingle together

Close in her hair,

Is there another

One half so fair
As the Little Grey Mother?

Little Grey Mother!

Sweet though her face is,

Sorrow its traces

Scatters in places,

Grey hairs and furrows,

Traces of arrows

Barbed with tomorrows

Shot at her heart.

Was there another

Gay counterpart
Of the Little Grey Mother?

Little Grey Mother!
Mother of freemen,
Mother of seamen,
Fine and fair women!
Out of her highlands,
Lowlands and islands,

Marshes and drylands
Issues her brood.
Is there another
Redder of blood
Than the Little Grey Mother?

Little Grey Mother!

Kin to the seagull,

Yet never eagle

Held heart more regal.

All that have sought her

Blood on seawater

Rue they have fought her,

Home as they roll.

Is there another

Stouter of soul
Than the Little Grey Mother?

Little Grey Mother!
Straight as her hedges,
Staunch as her pledges,
Honour her wages,
Faith her high altar —
None that could halt or
Force her to falter,
True to the end.
Is there another
Faithfuller friend

Than the Little Grey Mother?

Little Grey Mother!

Grey in her glory,

Grey in her story

Of sea-fight and foray —

Who would her splendour

Lightly surrender?

Who but defend her,

True Paladin?

Is there another

Worthier Queen
Than the Little Grey Mother?

•"Little Grey Mother" is a title employed in British
Columbia to designate the Mother Country — England.

April. 1919.

C I A I/'/. I \ BOOK l/l \

Some Canadian Illustrators

By ST. GEORGE BURGOYNE
ARTICLE H.

FOUR months of peart- have Followed four
years of war. and illustrators in Can
ada face improved prospects. While
Mars was dictator and every force was
concentrated to fill the requirements of his
regime, Art marked time, save in a branch
which promises to play an important part dur-
ing the period of reconstruction— the poster.
While Canada overseas, through the War Mem-
orials, gave employment to many British paint-
ers, so at home the Dominion Government by
poster competi-
tions gave illustra-
tors a chance to
employ their tal-
ents. The Vic-
tory Loan cam-
paigns in large
measure depended
on publicity, both
press and bill-
board, and this oc-
casion revealed a
talent in this di-
rection hitherto
unsuspected. Can-
adian bill-boards
in the past have
been things of
utility, but not of
aesthetic delight,
save when some
particularly artis-
tic theatrical bills
have had their
one - week life.
With the Victory
Loans the bill-
boards glowed
with color and ef-
fective designs.
Those who are
promoting cam-
paigns for post-
war work are also
appreciating the
necessity of pos-
ters in bringing

their claims and needs to the notice of the pub-
lic. The War Savings Stamp poster by Frank
Nicolet, who won the last Victory Loan poster
prize, on that occasion utilizing the sentimental
appeal of the late Lieut. -Col. John McCrae's
poem "In Flanders Fields," is an effective
work. It seems a pity that these posters, in
common with much that is striking in commer-
cial advertising, have no place on the sheet for
the signatures of the artists. This is in marked
contrast to the practice in England and on the
Continent, where, by giving what is only the
designer's due, a group of poster artists has

A "Dingbat" Drawing by Dudley Ward.

been developed. This realization of the value
of the poster in making appeals to the "man in

the street" promises another avenue of en-
deavor to Canadian illustrators, for which work
several are eminently qualified.

These posters in a national cause are an
effective reply to that argument so often ad-
vanced that where the striking and novel is
required one has to <ro to the United States for
it. It must be admitted that thus far we have
not produced any illustrator who is the creator

of a type ; we have
00 Gibson, Christy,
Flagg or Boileau
"girls," nor can
we point to a
draughtsman of
Rackham's calibre,
whose grotesques
are so effective.
The "Kewpie" is
an American pro-
duet, and so is the
"Brownie,"
though its creator,
Palmer Cox, was
born in Canada.
But in evolving a
type of this latter
order we have
working among us
todav Dudley
Ward.

This artist, a
Torontonian by
residence, besides
his illustrations of
a miscellaneous
character is best
known by his
whimsical pictures
of the "Ding-
bats," — fantastic
gnome - like fig-
ures. Mr. Ward,
who for the past
nine years has re-
sided in Canada,
was born in Staffordshire, England, and com-
menced his art career at the age of fourteen.
He studied under Tom Browne, and at South
Kensington, Amsterdam and Brussels. Recog-
nition did not come without a struggle, and he
made his entry into the illustrated periodical
world through the pages of the English comic
paper "Ally Sloper. " He created a Prehis-
toric Slopcr which enjoyed some popularity un-
til the artist responsible for the drawing of the
title character on the front page of the paper
objected to Mr. Ward's drawing Ally in any
shape or form. Undaunted, Mr. WTard created

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

April, 1919.

the "Dingbats," which jumped into instant
favor. In Everywoman's World, Toronto, ap-
pears his creation the "Jollikens, " a phase of
his art work which he regards as his hobby. His
work has appeared in "Ally Sloper" and most
of the English humorous magazines, and in the
Sketch, Illustrated London News, and Bystand-
er. In Canada he has contributed to Maclean's,
the Courier, Canada Weekly, the Christmas
issues of the Toronto Globe, and Everywoman's
World.

An artist who has done much illustrating
since his return from England, where he was
engaged in Canadian War Records work, is
Chas. W. Simpson, A.R.C.A. Better known
as a painter and etcher, Mr. Simpson has, with
a modest and artistic "S, " signed colored cov-
ers and booklet designs of excellence. His ex-
perience overseas he is now turning to good
account in illustrating stories for The Vet-
eran. Mr. Simpson was born in Montreal,
and studied under Mr. William Brymner,
C.M.G., R.C.A., past president of the* Royal
Canadian Academy, and E. Dyonnet, R.C.A.,

Illustration to "The Rhyme Garden," Marguerite
Buller Allan.

— Courtesy John Lane.

and later in New York, at the Students' Art
League under a Canadian master, George B.
Brigden. He was elected an Associate of the
Royal Canadian Academy in November 1913.
Works by this artist have been purchased by
the Advisory Arts Council for the Canadian
National Gallery at Ottawa.

W. T. Topham, who saw active service as a
Gunner with the 1st Siege Battery, and has
used material gathered at the front for paint-
ings which have been shown at exhibitions at
the Art Association of Montreal, and the Royal
Canadian Academy, has done illustrative work
of a general character. He has contributed
England, and Town and Country and The
The Veteran, Montreal, had a striking cover
by him — a Canadian soldier on the top of a
ridge, the flash of a bursting shell forming a
Maple leaf. Mr. Topham was born in England,
and studied at the Derby School of Art and
under L. L. Goldie, an English watercolorist.

He also spent six months — 1908-09 — at the
Secessionist schools in Berlin. He came to Can-
ada about nine years ago. Recently the Cana-
dian War Memorials purchased fifty sketches
of a military nature, either done by him at the
front or from jottings made while in khaki.

Canada has ground for legitimate pride in
her illustrators, and that the list is not longer is
due to the, comparatively speaking, limited
opportunities. There will be additions to their
ranks when this Dominion takes its place as a
publishing centre — when the presses are print-
ing the original works of native writers, and are
less occupied with Canadian editions of pro-
ducts from overseas. Without a canvass it is a
safe assumption that writers and artists in Can-
ada have pride in this Dominion and, all being
equal, would rather have their work given its
premiere here. Many in both branches, how-
ever, have made connections across the border
where aggressive publicity and circulation meas-
ures, and old established organization, promise
the quickest success, and this is not the age
when writer, artist, or actor would rather, on
patriotic grounds, starve in Canada than eat
regularly in the United States.

The next few years will probably see an in-
crease in the number of weekly and monthly
publications, and the illustrators who contribute
to them will not be faced with the problems with
which the designers had to wrestle twenty years
ago. The development of process printing has
gone forward, and the artist can now submit
designs, in color which can be reproduced with
all the touch and character of the original draw-
ing. Designers working in Canada today will
recall the almost scandalized attitude of pub-
lishers when a drawing in two primary colors
was submitted — the cost was counted almost
prohibitive. In that day, too, the zinc etching
was most favored on economical grounds — its
easy production and its certainty to give satis-
factory results on even the poorest paper being
the decisive arguments for it. That day is
passing, and the artist can now devote himself
to designs and pictures without being harassed
by what the engraver and printer cannot do.

The future of the illustrator and designer
has seldom been more promising than it is today.

The consideration of the Canadian illustra-
tors in the United States might suggest that the
Open Sesame is "Hamilton." Arthur William
Brown, B. Cory Kilvert, Arthur Crisp, Arthur
Heming (as respects his early training), all hail
from Hamilton. Jay Hambidge was born at
Simcoe, Ont., Palmer Cox, of "Brownie" fame,
boasts Granby, Que., as his birthplace, Norman
Price was born at Brampton, Ont., Philip Boil-
eau was a native of Quebec, John Conacher, a
Scotsman by birth, settled when young in To-
ronto, H. J. Mowat is a native of the Maritime
Provinces. There are probably other Canadians
doing: illustrative work in the United States,
but the few mentioned have established them-
selves and are, or have been, regular contribu-
tors to the best periodicals.

April, 1919.

i I A \l>l LA nonix 1/ I \

Jay Hambidge for many years contributed
to The Century, McClure's, Colliers and Har-
per's. Born in Simcoe, Ont., he received his
art education a1 the An Students' League, and
under William M. Chase, New Vm-k. He qow
gives his attention to lecturing and writing on
the philosophical aspects of Art, ami on theories
of design. Ho is a member of the Society of
Illustrators, New York, and of the Graphic Art
Club, Toronto.

Arthur Hearing is at present living in
Canada, hut his chief illustrative work
has appeared in American publications
He was horn in Paris, Out., ami reel
his early art training at the Ham
Art School, where he subsequently
became a teacher, ami continued
his study at the Art Students'
Lea-rue, New York, ami in Lon-
don. He was first employed as
an illustrator on the staff of the
Dominion Illustrated ami
afterwards, as a free lance.
did a large amount of illus-
trating of a miscellaneous
character. He was sent
by Messrs. Harper to ac-
company Casper Whit-
ney to the harren
grounds of Canada as
illustrator. He is fond
of the out-of-doors, and,
in quest of artistic ma-
terial, has patrolled
with the Koyal North-
West Mounted Police,
and travelled by pack
train in the
Rocky Moun-
tains. Travel
has interest-
ed him, and
it has been
immate rial
what means
were employ-
ed. Incident-
ally he has
covered 550
miles by raft,
1,100 by dog
team, 1,700
on s n o w~
shoes and 3,-
300 by canoe, *Ji
This experi-
ence has fur-
nished him with a wealth of material, and
he has published articles and illustrations
in the leading Canadian, English, French, Ger-
man and American publications. He is the
author of a novel, "Spirit Lake," and is a mem-
ber of the Society of Illustrators, New York.
His work possesses a distinct Canadian individ-
uality. An example of his recent illustrating
work appeared in the last issue of the Cana-
dian Bookman.

Illustration by Chas. W. Simpson,

— By courtesy of "The Veteran.

John Conacher is <>i f the best pen

draughtsmen in the United states, and his
work Inis appeared in Life, Punch, Scribner's,
Harper's and Judge among other publications.

It is sound in technique, full of character, and
'tis style is akin to lie best English work. .Mr.
Conacher was horn at St. Andrews. Scotland,

ami was brought to Canada when eight years

o'd. He studied drawing under William Cruick-
!.. at the old Ontario Society of Artists

school in Tor

onto. and
joined t h c

Art Staff of
the New

York Herald
twenty years
of age. Mr.
Charles W.
Jeffreys was
a confrere al
that time on
the s a in e
journal. Lat-
er he work
ed for the
P rank A.
Munsey pub-
lications, and
„ afterw ard s
did illustra-
t i o n s for
Harper and
Brothers. The
work that
appeals to
most is the original
ings which he con-
butes to Life and

an Price was
born in Hrampton, Ont..
and studied art in the
Ontario School of Art.
followed by practical
work for the Grip Company. Later
he went with some kindred spirits
to England on a cattle boat, and in
London the little band formed a
business which they called the
Carleton Studios and did a wide
variety of art work. Messrs. Jack
of Edinburgh then commissioned
Mr. Price to illustrate "Lamb's
Tales from Shakespeare" — twenty
picture in color, one of which was
exhibited at the Royal Academy.
In 1909 he went to Paris and studied at Julian's.
under Jean Paul Laurens and Richard Miller.
an American painter, whose pictures hang in
the leading galleries on the Continent, and in
the United States. On his return to London he
illustrated a '•Children's Tennyson." and also
did many colored illustrations for the follow-
ing series: "Days with Wagner," "Chopin,"
"Mendelssohn," "Christmas Bells," "A Leg-
end of Jerusalem." "The Joy of the Lord,"

was

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

April, 1919.

"Scott," "Mrs. Browning," "Kingsley," and
many colored paper covers for books. In 1911
he went to the United States and in 1913
started free lance work. He has done illustra-
tions for the Century, the American Magazine,
covers and drawings for St. Nicholas, Harp-
er's Magazine, Harper's Bazaar, Red Cross
Magazine, and The Canadian Home Journal.
The Century Company has published the fol-
lowing books with his illustartions : "The Dere-
lict," and "The Second Fiddle," by Phylis Bot
tome, and "The Return of the Soldier," by
Rebecca West. His best known commercial
work is his Victrola advertisements.

Of the younger men, the work of Arthur Wil-
liam Brown has
met with especial
favor. He is at
the moment the
most prominent
. Canadian illustra-
tor in the United
States. He is ap-
parently a prolific
worker and his
illustrations ap-
pear in the Satur-
day Evening Post,
and of late in
Scribner's. He was
born in Hamilton
in 1881, and in
1901 went to New
York, where he
studied at the Art
Students' League
for one year. He
works now for
practically every
well-known mag-
azine in the coun-
try except those
owned by Hearst.
He did the draw-
ings for "Seven-
teen" by Booth
Tarkington, and
he also did effec-
tive illustrations Illustration by
for Tarkington 's —By
later story, "The

Magnificent Anibersftns, " which was review-
ed in the last issue of the Canadian Bookman.
He is a member of the Committee on Public
Information. This Division makes all the post-
ers and drawings for the United States Gov-
ernment, Red Cross, and other war activities.

B. Cory Kilvert, author of "The Kite Book"
and of "Kilverts' Kids," is a native of Hamil-
ton and studied at the Art Students' League,
New York. Incidentally he won a cash prize of
$500 for the best humorous drawing in the lar-
gest calendar competition ever held in the Unit-
ed States, and a cash prize of $250 was also
awarded him for the best illustration of a fam-
iliar quotation. He specializes in the drawing of

1 HI W'ftk

|9I

W* 1 '■ , '

BK *~

1 %• &

children, and his work has appeared in the
leading American and Canadian publications.
He has also drawn cartoons for the New York
Evening World and other dailies.

Arthur Crisp, a Hamiltonian, has devoted his
talent to a phase of art which is not strictly
illustration. Some very good covers for maga-
zines have been designed by him, but they were
more in the nature of decorative studies than of
illustrations. His talent for effective composi-
tion has been employed in painting and mural
decoration, to which he is now giving his whole
attention. His work is represented in the Can-
adian National Gallery at Ottawa.
The late Philip Boileau, whose "girls" on

the covers of the
Saturday Evening
Post appealed to
those who sought
the pretty when
"heads" were all
the rage, was a
native of Quebec,
and received his
art education in
Italy.

Palmer Cox, al-
though a natural-
ized Americ a n ,
was born at Gran-
by, Que., in 1840.
He followed rail-
roading and con-
tracting in Cali-
fornia in early life
and contributed
articles to publica-
tions in that State.
He went to New
York in 1875 and
took up writing
and illustrating
for child r e n ' s
magazines. He is
the creator of the
" Brownie Peo-
ple," and the
Brownie books.

H. J. Mowat has
done much excel-
lent work in
Scribner's during the last four or five years.
He is now overseas doing work for the Canadian
War Records Office, after serving for some
time with the Canadian Artillery at the front.
While the war may have had an adverse
effect on painting as such, it brought the gov-
ernments of the world to a realization of the
importance of the artist in the community and
gave many an opportunity to show their power
as propagandists.

The newspaper cartoon, outside the scope of
this article, long recognized as a powerful
weapon, was, during the war, ably supported
by the poster, showcard, and painting.

These lessons learned will not be forgotten.

Thurston Topham.

courtesy of "The Veteran.'

April. 1919.

CANADIAN BOOK \l I \

First Aid to Songsmiths

By J. A. McNEIL

MEMBERS of the Ports' I,,,,,,, have long
had the assistance of rhyming diction
aries, but no corresponding provision
has been made for the writers of popular
songs. This compilation of verse terminations
favored by acknowledged masters of various
schools of American songwriters for the past
seven decades, with their periods of popular-
ity approximately indicated, is offered in the
confident belief that their employment will
enable the aspiring lyricist of the masses to
re-create not only the form but the spirit of
any particular school.

The Stephen Foster or negro minstrel song.
1845-1865.

banjo

hoecake

Sambo

Black Joe

canebrake

tambo

canoe

clambone

hambone

home gal

shore

honey cry

roam Sal

money die

come youall poor

funny shoofly

The lugubrious ballad of the lost love. 1860-
1875.

valley heaven dale

Hallie forgiven vale

dally oblivion pale

Nellie eleven (J) wail

remember
September (2)
November (3)
December (*)

The sweetly pretty song. 1870-1880.

gleaming
dreaming
beaming
leaning

river

quiver
forgive her
never (5)

roses
posies
dozes
loses

The Irish song, love or comic. 1875-1885.

Killarney
Blarney
Kearney
Barney

mavourneen
colleen
green (8)
seen (7)

avick, lick
shtick, pick
brick, Mick
kick, etc., ad lib.

The sedimental ballad. 1885-1900.

mazy
Daisy
crazy
easy

moon
spoon
bloom
June

dawn
morn
forlorn
torn

dear
tear
hair
fear

The tough hoy and girl song. 1894-1

Bowery spieler pearl

Elowerj Delia girl

showery heeler whirl

how 're yer steal her squirrel (")

The cake-walk or ragtime coon Bong. 1S98-1910.

lady Tennessee cake

baby levee shake

maybe Mississippee date

shady fricassee sake

The Indian and cowboy song. 1903-1907.

Wanna Navajo maid

goner Idaho cave

fonder wahoo braid

honor Antonio (•) shade

The Turkey trot or tango tune. 1910-1916.

doing it

dance

oh you kid

make a hit

chance

never did

sling your feet

prance

lift the lid

throw a fit

pants

watch us skid

honey bug

baby doll

melody

bunny hug

let me fall

holy gee

The near Hawaiian song. 1914-1917.

hula hula

beach

ukelele

peculiar

peach

gaily

fool yuh

each

O 'Haley

hickey bula

which

shillelagh

The great American war ball

ad. 1917-1919.

banner

son, sun

glory

Indiana

won, done,

story

grander

sun, gone

gory

standard

Hun, run

before me

The Great American post-war song (1919-?) :

beauty gob nurse

duty job worse

cootie Schwab hearse

treat 'cm rough shimmie, shimmie

eat 'em tough gimme, gimme

beat 'em 'nuff Jimniie, Jimmie

ou, la, la,
comme gi, comme ga
hello, paw.

(i) Number of years since she died. (2) They met.
(3) They parted. (4) She died of grief,
(s) Always preceded by "forget her."
(») Preceded by "isle of." (7) Preceded by "iver. "

(8) This may be pronounced so as to give a perfect
ear-rhyme.

(9) "Preceded by "San."

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

April, 1919.

On the Deterioration of Literary
Style After Death

Bv B. K. SANDWELL

ONE of the most interesting, though also
most distressing, features of that particu-
lar variety of the future life exhibited
by Dr. A. D. Watson of Toronto in his book,
"The Twentieth Plane"— but one to which the
author himself appears singularly blind— is the
astounding deterioration which the faculties of
verbal expression undergo after a period of re-
sidence in the monotonously pink atmosphere of
the latest substitute for heaven. After a care-
ful perusal of the 1918 utterances of Victor
Hugo, Shelley, Shakespeare, Coleridge, Words-
worth, Meredith and a score of others whose
work when on earth won them high distinction
as masters of style, I am reluctantly forced to
the conclusion that there is something either in
the pink light of the upper strata of astral so-
ciety, or in the habit of wearing an aura instead
of a top-hat, or in the nervous strain of being
continually on the hop to answer the call of the
latest ouija board — or perhaps in all combined
— which exerts a paralysing effect upon the
sense of word-values and the power of rhythmic
utterance.

I believe this observation of mine to be new,
and to be important. It has often been pointed
out that the inhabitants of the astral strata, so
far as they have deigned to communicate with
us, have proved to be sadly lacking in any ideas
which could be of utility (I do not mean merely
practical, but artistic, spiritual, social, moral)
upon this planet ; and to this it has been answer-
ed, plausibly enough, that under totally differ-
ent conditions from ours, ideas may have totally
different values — that our commonplace may
be the Twentieth Plane's highest wisdom, and
vice versa. But the principles of expression in
English and the values of English words and
phrases can hardly vary even among departed
spirits so long as they communicate in English
and retain a lively interest in English literature
— and Dr. Watson's astral visitants were so
keen about English literature that they were
constantly asking him to read them his latest
poems and those of sundry other Toronto versi-
fiers, and exhibited the liveliest admiration
thereof. Thus I am driven to the conclusion
that the absolutely inartistic character of the

language used by Shakespeare and Wordsworth
in Dr. Watson's parlor in Toronto last year was
due to an unconscious but serious deterioration
of the language facility. Nor is this unreason-
able, when we consider that the uses of language
in these upper strata are evidently much cur-
tailed. Thus for example, when Dorothy Words-
worth wants a new chair in her bedroom she
does not go to a furniture dealer and describe
the kind of chair she wants to have, nor even
to the lumber-yard and describe the kind of
wood she wants to make it of, and the quantity
that it will need; she merely "thinks a chair,"
evolving it out of her inner consciousness, a pro-
cess in which no word is necessary ; and this is
doubtless typical of the simplification of life
and the elimination of talk in the spheres above
— though it is to be noted that lectures, on a
sort of mutual-improvement-society basis, are
frequent and well-attended.

I have said "unconscious deterioration," be-
cause as a matter of fact all of the eminent lit-
erary deceased who visited Dr. Watson's circle
seem to have been rather pleased than other-
wise with their latest achievements as talkers,
orators and writers. They are all still engaged
in the production of works of literature, and
very proud indeed of what they are producing.
In .fact I should be inclined to fear that as a
result of the Watsonian communication-line the
firm of McClelland and Stewart might become
the outputters of a vast mass of posthumous
Shakespeare, Shelley, Wordsworth, Dante, Sam-
uel Johnson and Goethe, of very inferior qual-
ity, were it not for the serious obstacle of the
impossibility of remitting royalties to the Twen-
tieth Plane and the still more serious obstacle of
the impossibility of collecting guarantees from
the same place. Victor Hugo, for example, is
convinced that the language employed by these
astral personages, which he calls "ideographic,"
is similar in kind to the more vividly pictorial
of his own earthly descriptive passages, only
much better. He tells the Watsonians to look
up his description of a storm at sea in "Ninety-
three," "because one who wishes to become con-
versant with the ideographic picture style of
writing should study it." Now, according to

April. 1919.

C l \ iDIAN BOOKMAA

Dr. Watson, the "ideographic picture Btyle of
writing" is whal the Planers use to convey
ideas to present-day Toronto, bul 1 cannol im-
agine anything more unlike the majestic accum
ulation of logical and clearly-related similes
which constitutes a typical paragraph of the
earthly Hugo, than the strings of vague, ram-
bling, colorless and inane comparisons which
come down from the Twentieth Plane.

Here, for example, is one of the finest pass
ages in all the earthly Hugo. Dr. Watson, with
fatal ill-judgment, actually quotes it in full in
this book, within a few pages of the Twentieth
Plane Hugo's unspeakable balderdash, as an
earthly example of "astral" style (but in jus-
tice to the doctor, let it he said that the astral
Walter Pater put him up to it). Bear in mind
that this, superb as it is, is a translation, with
but half the sonority and rhythmic beat of the
original :

There are men, oceans in reality. These
waves; this ebb and flow; this terrible go and
come ; this noise of every gust ; these lights
and shadows; these vegetations belonging to
the gulf; this democracy of clouds in full hur-
ricane: these eagles in the foam; these won-
derful gatherings of clouds reflected in one
knows not what mysterious crowd by millions
of luminous specks, heads confused with the
innumerable ; those grand errant lightnings
which seem to watch; these huge sobs; these
monsters glimpsed at: this roaring disturbing
these nights of darkness : these furies, these
frenzies, these tempests, these rocks, these
shipwrecks, these fleets crushing each other,
these human thunders mixed with divine thun-
ders: this blood in the abyss; then these
graces, these sweetnesses, these fetes, these
gay white veils; these fishing-boats, these songs
in the uproar, these splendid ports, this smoke
of the earth, these towns on the horizon, this
deep blue of water and sky, this useful sharp-
ness; this bitterness which renders the uni-
verse wholesome, this rough salt without
which all would putrefy, these angers and as-
suagings, this whole in one. this unexpected in
the immutable, this vast marvel of monotony
inexhaustibly varied, this level after that earth-
quake, these hells and these paradises of im-
mensity eternally agitated, this infinite, this
unfathomable, — all this can exist in one spirit :
and then this spirit is called genius; and you
have Aeschylus, you have Isaiah, you have Ju-
venal, you have Dante, you have Michael An-
gelo. you have Shakespeare : and looking at
these minds is the same thing as to look at the
ocean.

Has the sublimity, the illimitability, of genius
ever been more majestically portrayed ? And
now. hear how this man talks — this man who

could describe genius when he was on earth !"•

cause he was l'ciiius hear how he talks after

only a third of a century in the pink twilight of
the realms above, i The questions arc by a mem-
ber of the Watsonian group, the answers are by

the astral Hugo) :

(What is the highest purpose in Liters

ture.

To reveal to view truth not touched to life,
but latent in the soul.

(Is not all Art but a varied manifestation of
the divine |

Certainly. The artist but translates it into
the language of prose or poetry.

(Who is the greatest French dramatist?)

Moliere and Corneille. In poetry, Racine is
very <_'reat. \,,t so high as a dramatist. In
prose. Balzac and Dumas are great men.

(How about LeSage?)

He tried with dabs to write. See?

(Next to yourself, who is the greatest French
poet?)

I am next to another. Put it that way. I
rank all the French school as greater than mv-
self.

(Who is the greatest?)

I do not care to say. Not now. Some others
are here.

Once I came to the vision screen tcr see your
group. You and all in your room now were
as faithful as Hebrews in their temple, but
two I could name were like the mist of a jun-
gle.

(Should we not be great enough to overcome
the evil influences emanating from such per
sonalities?)

You were, hence I came to-night.

Land of the tricolor, the My, and French va-
lor, I often come again in fright of Paris and
see France rise from the phoenix-ashes of war
to the strains of the Marseillaise, marching out
of the mist of tears to light.

(Do you remember the French Revolution?)

Thomas is here. He has written in his
"French Revolution" the sum and substance
of that epic time. That book is the soul of
those drama-moments of history, and will sup-
ply the details. I will say this, however, that
book should be reviewed as a historical im-
press of action rather than as the work of an
earth historian.

It may be objected, and with some force, that
Hugo was bothered and put out of his stride by
the preposterous questionings of what sounds
like an undergraduate "culture" society in a
rural theological college. But this is not true
of all the astralites who conversed with the Wat-
sonians. George Meredith, for example, who
used in his earthly day to be a fairly careful
writer, took up his stand at the '•instrument"
and "transmitted" the following, which he

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

April, 1919.

clearly claims to be a well-thought-out lesson
in the art of description :

George Meredith is here. My loving earth
souls, I deem it a very great joy to make you
as happy as I am, so let us speak of things
which, when thought out, will be of value . .

There is a philosophy on the earth called
Pragmatism. I will define for you Utilitarian-
ism, Joyism, Pragmatism.

(1) Pragmatism is the performance of a
work of love done into tangible form because
the doer believed material substance was the
end of things of value.

(2) Utilitarianism makes that which will be
useful.

(3) Joyism realizes that Pragmatism, Utili-
tarianism, and the Ideal are in combination,
knows that the only true joy is that which
one soul feels when looking into the eyes of
another soul.

Nearly all earth plane writers describe prin-
cipally the things a character does. Now great
literature speaks of the things a character is
capable of doing. All of the five senses will be
used by the characters; that is, all will be in-
tensely human. Realize that there are other
senses beyond the five. Your great character
will always use these in a given crisis. Great
characters do not in great crises do the so-
called normal thing.

A great writer writes as much with his vis-
ion as with his education.

I will use an example. The scene is a gar-
den. We will say it is the garden of Shelley's
sensitive plant. Vision it now in simple lan-
guage. What would you consider the most im-
portant thing to describe in prose in that gar-
den?

(Oh, I suppose, individual flowers, atmos-
phere, lights and shadows, breezes and birds,
physical effects, abstract qualities, heart
memories, etc.)

Here are my notes:

A path of barrenness. A lonely woman walk-
ing in that path. She feels that the world is
cruel and without beauty. The moon rises
full and clear. The woman, walking aimlessly
into the garden, passes a rustic gate, her
thoughts bowed down with grief. The air
still. Silence profound as death. The woman
hears a strange whispering. This wakens her
mind to a little alertness. She opens her eyes,
and sees she is alone. She says to herself, is
this talking in a Garden where there are no
people? It is almost a breezeless night. She
wonders. Soon the silvery orb of soft mellow
glory shows to her the varied and almost un-
earthly bed of beautiful flowers. -She realizes
that her soul is so still that she hears the lan-
guage of the flowers — the love and sympathy of
each to the others. Then the perfume bathes
her aching temples. She feels the perfect
flower-repose, and so vision, order, truth and
beauty are angels which tell God's purpose
to her soul.

This is roughly what I wrote of such a gar-
den. Should not all nature become accessory
to all humans?

It may be all right to write about gardens in
that style on the Twentieth Plane, but I can im-
agine what his publishers and his friends and
his critics would have said if he had turned out
anything like that while on the same earth on
which he wrote, say, the "Diversion Played on
a Penny Whistle" in 'Richard Feverel," or the
paragraphs on the Triumph of the Identical in
"Shagpat." The kindest phrase would have
been "senile decay."

Shelley is one of the worst of the lot. He
was, even on earth, probably the last poet to
whom any sane persons would think of going for
a definition of poetry or a set of instructions
on how to make it. But on the Twentieth Plane
they are terrifically keen on definitions — or
they think that definitions are the one thing
needed to save this bewildered world of ours.
They handed out dozens of them to the Watson-
ian circle, which literally "ate them up."
Shelley, without even waiting for an invitation,
sailed up to the "instrument," announced him-
self (in language of much the same sort as P.
T. Barnum would have used to announce him if
the poet had consented to do a lecture tour in
the States), and poured forth the following:

Greetings, Dear Friends.

Bathed in the effulgence of a mutual love, in
the pale pink lovelight, I kiss the soul of all.
Of course you know 'tis I, Percy Bysshe Shel-
ley, and so will proceed to the elucidation of
the essentials of the poet's art.

Poetry is the expression, through emotion, im-
agination, rhythm, and light — the light of
words — of big thoughts, great ideas, cosmic in-
spiration, the soul on fire with intensity. And
it is opportune to say that in the stirring times
of the fifth plane, poetry is the herald of re-
volt, for, mark you, I said when on your sphere
of action, "Poets blow the bugles to battle, they
are the unacknowledged legislators of the
world."

The philosophy of poetry is this : The poet, as
Macaulay said, is like an artist ; He paints with
words what the artist paints with colours. The
first thing to realize in writing great poetry, is
the mood ; second, spontaneity. Mood while not
artificial, can always be governed by external
objects. A red rose, a pink light, an overture
on the harpsichord or the violin, will make a
divine mood.

The reception chamber in which imagination
dwells is close to intellect and soul, and these
three triune faculties can, if regulated, catch
the inspiration of spontaneity, even though the
flash of color, thought, form and purpose, comes

019

'' I \ |/./ | \ l:nnl<MAN

with the speed of lightning. My Indian Seren
ade, read to-night, was the efforl of one great
deep breath of spontaneous thought. It clothed
itself in garments beautiful without effort, It
was a golden glory piece caughl in the baakel of
my mind. It was a child of the spontaneous, an
offspring of the eternal. It lives, palpitates
with joy, and is a thing of sublimity.

There is something about that phrase, "golden
glory-piece caught in the basket of my mind'
that is the very essence of astral literary style
— and the very negation of all that ever passed
for style, clarity or intelligence here upon earth.
If this is the utterance of a great writer, then
Mary Baker Eddy is the greatest among us, and
Shakespeare the least.

Wordsworth contributed to Dr. Watson's
compilation a carefully-executed description of
an astral oil-portrait. If anybody had told
Wordsworth that he was going to write like
this after he died, he would have prayed for
extinction. I am in some doubt as to who is
supposed to have executed the portrait in ques-
tion, and after reading the description several
times, I am utterly unable to form any mental
vision of the picture. Perhaps the readers of
the Canadian Bookman may have better luck:

Nestling as quiet as she is in the group of
earth astral bodies painted here byr Titian and
Rembrandt, on an easel of red gold ore con-
struction, is to be seen the glory-painting of
Rembrandt's art, as he dreamed of a girl,
sweet, gentle, and the soul of things pensive.

The canvas is pure white, and the back-
ground reveals a sky as if each cloud were
the tear-drop of an angel. In the foreground,
one sees half-revealed flowers, a fountain of
astral crystal waters, and a lone palm tree.

The girl herself is seated on a bench near
the sea. Her arm is on the back of the place
she reclines on. It is long and sculptured to a
state of perfection which would have been an
inspiration to Angelo. The slightly stooping
shoulders are delicately rounded in art curves
like the curves of a swallow in flight. The
hair is brown, as if Nature had taken the
brown of apples, russet in their dress, and
adorned the head of a maiden. The cheeks
have a delicate pink, as if a blush had been
caught when the maiden dreamed things of
her heart, — secrets of him she loves. In the
eyes slightly shaded one can see the outlook-
ing soul all lit with education, strength of
character, and the delicate touch of the artist
of life, whose discrimination in taste is almost
perfect.

The atmosphere around all is one of pensive,
deep-dreaming love, and, in a sentence, one
sees in this astral painting, the fresh, innocent
maid, worthy to have walked in Eden, when
mortals were so close to the divine.

Km beyond .1 doubt the saddesl case of lit
erary deterioration is thai of Shakeapean Ee

has I n up there longer than the rest, and is

"wry much higher," and presumably more
rarefied. His extraordinary power of vivid
figuration lias complete!] disappeared; he is re>
duced to the most ranklj commonplace and
shopworn comparisons, such as arc chopped out
of the writings of any cub reporter by any in-
telligenl city editor. Be is hut what's the use'/
Listen to him :

Now, the hour-glass spills much sand, so I
will in subdued light, speak as the immortal
urges me.

As courses time through all the valleys of
the life of man, as the chariot dashed around
the amphitheatre of old Rome, as the almost
perfect youths of Greece entered into the
games, let us with courage and noble emotion
enter the amphitheatre of great thought.

Genius is that power which enables a man
to do absolutely without effort what other men
can not do with the most intense labor and
struggle. Genius is always spontaneous, as
rapid as light, as free as a bird in the trans-
ports of a bird's pure life. . . . Genius can
not be explained. It can be illustrated ; it can-
not be demonstrated, because only the God
of the Universe knows what genius is.
and genius never tells

Nearly all geniuses entered your world amid
the surroundings of the crude and the humble.

. . . The crude and the humble things of
your environment are most in harmony with
the great laws that sweep as do the fingers of
the harpist the chords of a golden harp. . .

Is this, think you, the kind of conversation
which made Beaumont write that unparalleled
testimonial :

What things have we seen
Done at the Mermaid ! heard words that have

been
So nimble and so full of subtle flame,
As if that every one from whence they came
Had meant to put his whole wit in a jest,
And had resolved to live a fool the rest
Of his dull life.

Or is it not rather the kind of utterance de-
scribed by Shakespeare himself:

It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.

To anybody who is tempted to think that
these communications proceed from a Words-
worth, a Shelley, a Hugo or a Shakespeare who
still retains the powers of intellect which made
him a master of literary style when upon this
earth. I can only recommend the perusal, side-
by-side with these ineffable ineptitudes of
meandering minds, of some typically brilliant
piece of earth-writing by the same personage.

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

Apnl. 1519,

Free Verse

(Dedicated to J. M. Gibbon)

By ARTHUR L. PHELPS

The Editor of the Canadian Bookman.

Sir: — I have no meanly entertained desire
to discredit Mr. J. M. Gibbon's finely con-
ceived and admirably executed article in the
first number of the Canadian Bookman, but
really I feel that certain results of its influ-
ence* should be brought to the attention of
those who were responsible for its publica-
tion. I was so interested in the considera-
tion shown those who are the devotees or
near-devotees of the stripped Muse (not even
crinolines! but then, of course, how lovely
is the nude!) that after reading the article
I at once sat down to see what could be done
about it. The enclosed free verses are the
result. May I add, the direct result? The
article was" read ; the verses were written.
This statement of fact makes it obvious that
there is no familiarity or warmth of family
attachment or anything of that sort involved
in the dedication of the verses to Mr. Gib-
bon. He is their godfather and responsible
for their begetting, that is all. And you, Sir,
with your Editorial Committee share that
responsibility. I anticipate for your edi-
torial sanctum a great influx of free verse
from all parts of the country. Yours, etc.,

Arthur L. Phelps.

LAMENT OVER A DEMOCRACY.

TIS not to be wondered at, is it,
That the politicians,
Who know something.
Should forego their knowledge
When they talk to the people,
When the people are ignorant
And like it.

REVIEW OF '•THE TWENTIETH
PLANE."

WHEN "A.D.",
Albert Durrant Watson, M.D.,
— M.D. is after the name,
A.D. before it, —
Got his ear in the Infinite,
Did we laugh, did we cry,
When we read the denouement ?

We smirked and reviewed it.
Then, "To Hell with the Infinite!"
And slap home to supper,
— Maybe poker and supper!

But Watson believes it.

He was there with the steno.

PLAIN LIVING.

I HAVE eaten a piece of hard cheese
in the moonlight
And thought more of life and love and the here-
after
Than when I sat with purple cushions
In Morris chairs.

Or tapped a cigarette on the mantel
In the warmth of a fire.

HUMPH!

SHE had worked in munitions;
And developed.

"Children?" she said.

' ' Why sure !

But you'll have to raise them!"

When I argued:

"Well, I'll give a year to them

Intensely ;

Three children, three years, say ;

Intense years.

Then you do the rest;

With the help of the State

'Twill be easy ;

Your turn again.

We women

Will watch you."

ADJECTIVES.

Being a Review of Certain Books.

ADJECTIVES!" yearned the manager.
"Adjectives!" shrieked the hireling
advertiser.
"Adjectives, adjectives, adjectives!" groaned
the printer.

For the House had decided to print it.
The cover, the shape had been chosen.
The colour, the width of the margins.
It remained but to startle* the presses.
The cheque had been duly submitted.
And duly accepted.

But adjectives, adjectives, adjectives!
'Twas adjectives that they wanted.
Else how could they camouflage
Nothing? How decive for awhile
The Public?

•Should be "start up."

April. 1919

C i \ i/>/.ia BOOR 1/ i a

The Real Reason for Un-Book
ishness in Canada

By •• PROFESSOR'S WIFE "

I HAVE been much interested in reading the
first number of the Canadian Bookman,
to which I wish all success, and with the
aims of which mere woman will sympa-
thise. Particularly was 1 interested in the sym-
posium on "The Need of more Bookishness in
Canada." and in the varied and excellent rea-
sons put forward for the too little "bookish-
ness" which we all deplore. I read Sir Wil-
liam Peterson's words: "What is the use of
teaching children the mechanical art of read-
ing if we fail to instil in their minds a genuine
appetite for good books?" and Bishop Bid-
well's statement that the English boy who at-
tended his classes came from a home where
there had been some atmosphere of culture, or
where, at any rate, books and book-talk were
common, whereas the Canadian boy generally
was practical, knew about guns, engines, sail-
ing-boats, canoes and so forth, but had clearly
not lived among books, and could not pick up
an allusion even to the best-known figures of
Scott or Dickens. I read right through the
articles till I came to Principal Hutton's, with
his paragraph upon wifely jealousy and the
spouse's alleged impatience with a scholar's
library. (Till one read it, one had thought al-
ways of "Margot Tennant" as one whose brain
might even have the brilliancy which many
deny to the lawyerly, scholarly mind of her
good mid-Victorian husband.) But nowhere
does it seem to me has anyone touched on what
I consider to be the real reason of the lack of
bookishness in Canada.

In John Murray Gibbon's "Drums Afar"
there is this sentence: "If we had educated our
women to be better companions for their child-
ren, the children would have grown up likely
to be better citizens. The reason why progress
is so slow is that only one half of the human
race has taken part in the work." It is a com-
mon axiom: "Get the mother, and you get the
new generation." And my contention is that
if the English boy is more bookish than his
Canadian brother, it is because his mother has
been a reading woman. Professor Ernest Scott
makes a plea for "more of the habit of read-

ing." and La it not the mother who seeks to

form the habits of her child when it is young 1
So it seems to me thai the question which has
to be tackled is: "Why do the Women of Can-
ada not read more?"

Sir Robert Falconer writes that his experi-
ence leads him to believe that there arc more
women than men in Canada who are good
readers. He gives as a reason that "possibly
they have more time, though that is doubtful,
when household duties are so manifold and con-
stant; I rather think the women make more
time." Woman is naturally a book-lover. She
has not the distractions that men have of club
and business life; and when she has some well-
earned leisure what more restful than to take
up the good book so close to her hand and find
companionship and stimulation and distraction
from her drudgery. But in this stirring new
country, where home-helpers are so hard to find,
just at the time when she should have most leis-
ure to mould the minds of her young children,
just at the very time when she should for their
sakes be keeping her own brain fresh and un-
tired, the mother is hardest worked of them all.
She is so occupied in caring for the bodies of her
family, in giving them food to eat and clothes
to wear, that she has not much time to care for
their impressionable young minds.

There is a time-honored custom which I
should like to see more widely adopted by every
mother; the last hour of their short day is
"children's hour," and the mother hurries home
from whatsoever engagement she has had so
as not to disappoint the little ones, who all day
long in Nurseryland have looked forward to the
hour when gathered round their mother's knee
they will fight the Gorgons with Perseus, or
open the box of troubles with Pandora, or fly
over many lands and see many strange things
on the wings of Pegasus. They siug the beloved
Nursery Rhymes, and at Christmas time their
voices are lifted in the quaint old English
carols ; and all the time there is being awakened
in them a love of beauty, of poetry or rhythm.
of music, and of romance which will be their
heritage to the end of their days. Every child

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

April. 1910.

is born into the world with that most blessed gift
of imagination, and woe be to the parent who,
instead of cherishing and fostering it, suffers
it to be stifled in the prose of life.

It seems to me that the men of Canada have
to see to it: first, that their women have more
time; and second, that they are supplied with
more literature. It is quite possible that the
jealousy which Principal Hutton noticed comes
from the fact that s.o often where woman is
most cumbered and busy with "the little things
that someone after all must do," indulgent
man, smoking in his sanctum, must not be dis-
turbed, while he refreshes his brain from the
books and magazines she so longs to read her-
self.

But granted that the New "World woman has
not the time of her more leisured Old World
sister for the very big book, she might keep
au courant with the progress of the world's
thought, had she even the opportunity of read-
ing the magazines of the month.

It is the boast of one of the first universities
of Canada (and may be of each for aught T
know!) that the staff have a reading-room
which is supplied with all the best American and
English magazines. At a given date, true, the
professors are permitted to carry an old num-
ber home, and by the time the world may have
nearly turned upside down in this very breath-
less age in which we live, the professor's wife
may have a chance to skim its pages. Similarly

in the University Clubs and other clubs of which
I am cognisant; where, in the women's quar-
ters, is it possible to sit and enjoy any of the
literature that is piled in stacks in the members'
reading-room? Unfortunately, too, man having
read and enjoyed his magazine thinks that now
it would be waste and folly to buy it, and so not
only are his women debarred from reading it at
the club, but they are also debarred from seeing
it in their own home. As a remedy for this I
would suggest that a reading-room should be
made in the universities for the wives of the
staff, and in clubs for the wives of the mem-
bers, where after a given date they would be
able to see the monthly magazines before they
are carried to the respective homes. If both
parents had a mutual interest in the problems
with which our age is teeming, and of which
women may be oblivious for lack of the oppor-
tunity of hearing of them, if both parents had
the true love of good literature which unfortu-
nately will die for lack of nutrition, the conver-
sation at home might be one of the most stimu-
lating and educational assets of youth.

It will be a pity if the Canadian Bookman
shares the fate of many other magazines and is
read only by the men of this country. I con-
tend that it should be read by every woman
in Canada, if the rising generation is to profit
by that literary home-atmosphere which will be
the first step towards creating true " bookish -
ness' in this land.

Wasted Nights

By ELSIE A. GIDLOW

ALL those silent, mysteried midnights
That passed us by ;
Those slender, silver, scarcely world-born hours

That we let die!
No wonder the moon, that pale soul of sadness,
Smiled from her sky.

I have almost wept to see them

All dying so,
Draped" in their shrouds of stars, like virgin maidens.

Pale, pale as snow;
Wept tears for them slipping away, unknowing,

From us who know.

I have cried for all their beauty

That scarcely seemed
Nature's beauty, so fine it was, so finished

It subtly gleamed.
Yet — those nights might have been far less dear

Than those I dreamed.

April. 1919.

CAh \D1 I \ BOOK 1/ I \

What Is Poetry?- A Synthesis of
Modern Criticism

By ALFRED GORDON

THE most critical answer to the question,
"What is poetry"" lias been made by
Benedetto (Voce, in his "Aesthetic." It
acts therefore as the hest cement for a discussion
in which the mass of material is mi great, that
only the most precise language (especially in
limited space ) can present Confusion; and with
out more ado I give a resume of it:

Human knowledge has two forms: it is either
intuitive knowledge or logical knowledge ; know-
ledge obtained through the intellect; knowledge
of the individual or knowledge of the univer-
sal ; of individual things or of the relations be-
tween them : it is, in fact, productive either of
images or concepts . . . those concepts
which are found mingled and fused with the in-
tuitions are no longer concepts, insofar as they
really are mingled and fused, for they have
lost all independence and autonomy. They have
been concepts, but they have now become sim-
ple elements of intuition. . . . Every true
intuition or representation is, also, expression.
That which does not objectify itself is not in-
tuition or representation, but sensation and
naturality. . . Intuitive activity possesses
intuitions to the extent that it expresses them.
. . . How can we possess a true intuition of
a geometrical figure, unless we possess so ac-
curate an image of it as to be able to trace it
immediately upon paper? . . . The princi-
pal reason which makes our theme appear para-
doxical as we maintain it, is the illusion or pre-
judice that we possess a more complete intuition
than we really do. . . People believe that
anyone could have imagined a Madonna of
Raphael, but that Raphael was Raphael,
owing to his technical ability in putting the
Madonna on canvass, nothing could be

more false The painter is a

painter, because he sees what others only feel
or catch a glimpse of. but do not see. . . They
are brought back to reality, when they are
obliged to cross the Bridge of Asses of expres-
sion. . . To have an intuition is to express.
Tt is nothing else (nothing more, but nothing
less) than to express. The intuition and ex-
pression together of a poet are verbal. Some
say: "Let us admit that art is intuition, but
intuition is not always art: artistic intuition is
of a distinct species differing from intuition in
general by something more." But no one has
ever been able to indicate of what this some-
thing more consists. As science adds and sub-

stitutes other concepts larger and more compre-
hensive for those that arc poor and limited, yel
its method does not differ from that by which
is formed the smallest universal in the brain of
the humblest of men, so what is generally call-
ed art, by antonomasia (analogy), collects in-
tuitions tliat arc wider and more complex than
those which we generally experience, but these
intuitions are always of sensations and impres-
sions . . . the whole difference, then, is
quantitative, and as such, indifferent to philo-
sophy. . . The cult and superstition of the
genius has arisen from this quantitative differ
ence having been taken as a difference of qual-
ity. . . Those who claim unconsciousness as
the chief quality of an artistic genius, hurl him
from an eminence far above humanity to a po-
sition far below it. Intuitive or artistic genius,
like every form of human activity. 'is always
conscious; otherwise it would be blind mechan-
ism. . . Does the aesthetic fact consist of
content alone, or of form alone, or of both to-
gether? . . In the aesthetic fact, the aesthe-
tic activity is not added to the fact of the im-
pressions, but these latter are formed and elab-
orated by it. The impressions reappear as
it were in expression, like water put into
a filter, which reappears the same and yet
different on the other side. The aesthetic fact,
therefore, is form, and nothing but form . .
. . (therefore) there is no passage between
the quality the quality of the content and that
of the form. . It has sometimes been thought
that the content, in order to be aesthetic, that
is to say, transformable into form, should pos-
sess some determinate or determinable quality.
But were that so, then form and content, expres-
sion and impression, would be the same thing.

•Bibliography for this article is as follows: —

Benedletto Croc'e — "Aesthetic," MacMillan.

Benedetto Croce — "Philosophy of The Practical,"
MacMillan.

Sir Henry Xewbolt— " A New Study of English
Poetry," Constable.

Arthur Symons — "The Romantic Movement in Eng-
lish Poetry, ' ' Constable.

Arthur Ransome — "Portraits and Speculations," Mac-
Millan.

Irving Babbitt — "The New Laocoon." Houghton
Mifflin.

Basil Worsf old— " The Principles of Criticism," Long-
mans.

Lafeadio Hearn — "Interpretations of Literature."
Dodd, Mead.

Lafeadio Hearn — "Life and Literature/" Dodd, Mead

Lafeadio Hearn — "Appreciations of Poetry." Dodd,
Mead.

Professor Saintsbury — "A History of Eaglish. Pro-
sody," MarMillan.

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

April, 1919.

It is true that the content is that which is con-
vertible into form, but it has no determinable
qualities until this transformation takes place.
. . . Expression has its point of departure
in the impressions .... (but) it will be
(argued) that expression is sometimes based on
other expressions . . . not in the least .
. . he who conceives a tragedy puts into a
crucible a great quantity, so to say, of impres-
sions: the expressions themselves, conceived on
other occasions, are fused together with the
new in a single mass . . the old expressions
must descend again to the level of impressions,
in order to be synthetized into a new single ex-
pression. . . When we take "content" as
equal to "concept" it is most true, not only that
art does not consist of content, but also that it
has no content. . . In the same way the

ALFRED GORDON.

distinction between poetry and prose cannot be
justified save in that of art and science. . .
The relation between intuitive knowledge or ex-
pression, and intellectual knowledge or con-
cept, between art and science, poetry and prose,
cannot be otherwise defined than by saying
that it is one of double degree. The first degree
is the expression, the second the concept : the
first can exist without the second, but the
second cannot exist without the first. There
exists poetry without prose, hut not prose with-
out poetry (e.g. the arrangement of a book on
science). Expression, indeed, is the first affirm-
ation of human activity. Poetry is "the ma-
ternal language (italics mine) ot the human
race." It is customary to dis

tinguish the internal from the external
work of art ; the terminology is infeli-
citous, for the work of art (the aesthetic work)
is always internal; and that which is called ex-
ternal is no longer a work of art. . . Others
distinguish between aesthetic and artistic fact,
meaning by the second the external or practical
stage, which may and generally does follow
the first. But in this case, it is simply a case
of linquistic usage, doubtless permissible, al-
though perhaps not opportune. . . For the
same reasons the search for the end of art is
ridiculous, when it is understood of art as art.
. . . to fix an end is to choose ... to
choose is to will : to will this and not to will
that : and this and that must be before us, they
must be expressed. Practice follows, it does not
precede theory; expression is free inspiration.
The true artist, in fact finds himself biar with
his theme, he knows not how; he feels the mo-
ment of birth drawing near, but he cannot will
it or not will it. . . If born Anacreon. he
were to wish to sing of Atreus and of Alcides,
his lyre would warn him of his mistake, echoing
only of Venus and of Love, notwithstanding
his efforts to the contrary. . . The impossi-
bility of choice of content completes the theorem
of the independence of art, and is also the only-
legitimate meaning of the expression: art for
art's sake. . . . The saying: the style is the
man is either altogether void, as when it is un-
derstood that the man is the style, in so far as
lie is style, that is to say, the man, but only so
far as he is an expression of activity ; or it is
erroneous, when the attempt is made to deduce
from what a man has seen and expressed, that
which he has done and willed, inferring thereby
that there is a necessary (italics mine) link be-
tween knowing and willing. . . . Sincerity
imposed upon the artist as a duty ....
arises from an equivocation . . (the artist)
deceives no one, since he gives form to what is
already in his mind . . . (if) by sincerity
is meant fullness and truth of expression, .
. . . it is clear that this second sense has
nothing to do with the ethical concept. . . .
Art is thus independent of science, as it is of
the useful and the moral. . . Let it not be
feared that thus may be justified art that is
frivolous or cold, since that which is truly frivo-
lous or cold is so because it has not been raised
to expression. . We do not ask of an artist

instruction as to real facts and thoughts, nor
that he shoiild astonish us with the richness of
his imagination, but that he should have a per-
sonality, in contact with which the soul of the
hearer or spectator may be heated. A person-
ality of any sort is asked for in this case; its
moral significance is excluded . . . but it
must be a soul . . art criticism would

seem to consist altogether in determining if
there be a personality in the work of art, and of
what sort. . (Croee here goes on to say

that the personality here meant is not empirical
and volitional, but spontaneous and ideal.)
. . . Thus it is without doubt that if pure
intuition (and pure expression, which is the

April. L919.

CANADIAN i:noh\i\\

same thniLr' are indispensable in the work of
art. the personality of the artist is equally in-
dispensable. If . tin- classic moment of
perfect representation or expression I"- aecea
sary for the work of art. the romantic moment

of feeling is not less necessary. . . If the
first or representative momenl be epic, ami the
second, which is ... passionate and per-
sonal, be formed lyric then art must
be at oner epic and lyric hut if the
essence of art be merely theoretic and it is
intuibitity—c&Ti it. on the other hand, be prac-
tical, that is to say personality and passionalityt
(or vice versa). Here we find, on the
one hand things intuible lying dead and soul-
less; on the other, the artist's feeling and per-
sonality. The artist is then supposed to put
himself into things, by an act of magic, to make
them live and palpitate, love and adore. But
if we start with the distinction, we can never
again reaeh unity, the distinction requires an
intellectual act. and what the intellect has divid-
ed, intellect or reason alone, not art or imagina-
tion, can reunite and synthetize. . . We must
recognize, either that the duality must be de-
stroyed and proved illusory, or that we must
proceed to a more ample conception of art, in
which that of pure intuibility would remain
merely secondary or particular. And to destroy
and prove it illusory must consist in showing
that here too form is content, and that pure in-
tuition is itself lyricism. Now, the truth is pre-
cisely this: pure intuition is essentially lyric-
ism.

Pure intuition, then, since it does not pro-
duce concepts, must represent the will in its
manifestations, that is to say. it can represent
nothing but states of the soul. And states of the
soul are passionality, feeling, personality, which
are found in every art and determine its lyrical
character. Where this is absent, art is absent,
precisely because pure intuition is absent.
. . Thus the origin of language, 'hat is, its
true nature, has several times been placed in
interjection. . . If this deduction of lyric-
ism from the intimate essence of pure intuition
do not appear very easily acceptable, the reason
is to be sought in two very deep-rooted pre-
judices . . . The first concerns the nature
of the imagination, and its likenesses to and
differences from fancy. . . . Not only does
a new and bizarre combination of images, which
is vulgarly called invention, not constitute the
artist, but ne fait rien a 1 'affaire, as Alceste
remarked with reference to the length of time
expended upon writing a sonnet. Great artists
have often preferred to treat groups of images,
which have already been many times used as
material for works of art. The novelty of these
new works has been solely that of art or form,
that is to say. of the new accent which they
have known how to give to the old material.
of the new way in which they have felt and
therefore intuified it, thus creating new images
upon the old ones. ... If we form an ar-
bitrary image of any sort . . . would this

not be ... a pure intuition? . Cer

tainly not it is a product of choict

. . and choice i^ i sternal to tie- world of
thought and contemplation . . . from this
We learn that an image, which is not the ex-
pression of a state of the soul, is not an image,
since it is without any theoretical value: and

therefore it cannot he an obstacle to the identi-
fication of lyricism and intuition. Bui the other

prejudice is more difficult to eradicate . .

if art be intuition, would it therefore he any in-
tuition that one might have of a physical ob-
ject, appertaining to external naturet . .
Without doubt, the perception of a physical
object, as such, does not constitute an artistic
fact; but precisely for the reason that it is not
a pure intuition, but a judgment of perception,
and implies the application of an abstract con-
cept . . . and with this reflexion and per
ception we find ourselves outside the domain of
pure intuition. We could have a pure percep-
tion of a physical object in one way only; that
is to say. if physical or external nature were a
metaphysical reality, a truly real reality, and
not, as it is. a construction or abstraction of the
intellect. If such were the case, man would have
an immediate intuition, in his first theoretic
moment, both of himself and of external na-
ture, of the spiritual and of the physical, in an
equal degree. This represents the dualistic
hypothesis. Rut just as dualism is incapable of
providing a coherent system of philosophy, so
it is incapable of providing a coherent system

of Aesthetic Art on its side

tacitly protests against metaphysical dualism.
It does so. because, being the most immediate
form of knowledge, it is in contact with activity,
not with passivity ; with inferiority, not exter-
iority : with spirit, not with matter, and never
with a double order of reality.

Such, in brief, is Croce's "Aesthetic." a work
which I believe to be as fundamental to poetry
as the "Principia" to physics, or "The Oriein
of Species" to biology. I have no doubt de-
stroyed my own article in presenting this
resume, yet I may boast that to have written
a resume at all of a work already immensely
compressed is no small feat, and one which, in
consideration of its utility, would of itself be
valuable. If hereafter I dwell in a reflected
glory, I am content that it is a glory.

The root of any difficulty in understanding
this work, is that the complexity of contem-
porary art. in contrast to primitive art. creates
the illusion of a qualitative difference. Thus,
at first sight, it appears that Croce contradicts
himself when he says in the "Aesthetic" that
"the distinction between poetry and prose can-
not be justified, save in that of art and science,"
and, even further. "It was seen in antiquity
that such distinction could not be founded on
•xternal elements, such as rhyme and metre ,

CAXADIAN BOOKMAN

April, 1919.

. . that it was, on the contrary, altogether
internal," while, in the "Philosophy of the
Practical," he says:

Every poet knows that a poem is not created
from an abstract plan, that the initial poetical
image is not without rhythm and verse (italics
mine), and that it does not need rhythm and
verse applied to it afterwards. He knows that
it is in reality a primitive intuition-expression,
in which all is determined and nothing is deter-
mined, and what has already been intuified is
already expressed, and what will afterwards be
expressed will only be afterwards intuified.

This apparent antinomy arises from the fact
that while pure intuition is essentially lyricism,
it is quite possible to have prosaic verse. The
theoretic statement in the "Aesthetic" is as
justified as the practical statement in the
"Philosophy of the Practical," and vice versa,
and thus we may endorse Arthur Symons ' ' ' In-
troduction" to "The Romantic Movement in
English Poetry," with its clear distinctions be-
1ween verse, prose, the poetic, the prosaic,
poetry. So safeguarded from a mechanical in-
terpretation of form, Croce proceeds in the
"Philosophy of the Practical": —

No poet creates his poem outside definite con-
ditions of time and space, and even when he
appears to be and is proclaimed "a soul of
other times," he belongs to his own time. The
historical situation is given to him. The world
of his perceptions is such, with those men, those
customs, those thoughts, those works of art.
But when the new poem has appeared, there
is in the world of reality (in the contemplation
of reality t something that was not there before,
which, althoueh connected with the previous
situation, yet is not identical with it, is indeed
a new form, and therefore a new content, and
so the revelation of a truth previously unknown.
So true is this, that in its turn the new poem
conditions a spiritual and practical movement,
becomes part of the situation given for future
actions and future poems. He is a true poet
who feels himself at once bound to his nredeeess-
ors and free, conservative and revolutionary,
like Homer, Dante and Shakespeare, who receive
into themselves centuries of history, of thought
and of poetry, and add to those centuries some-
thing that is the present and will be the future.
. . . The false poet, on the other hand, is
now a blind follower of tradition and imitator,
now a charlatanesque innovator, and if in the
vacuity in which he labours he sometimes does
produce a fragment of poetry, this only hap-
pens when he is made to look into himself and
have a vision, be it great or small, of a world
that arises. (Italics mine.)

Vers-librists and imagists, etc., will therefore
derive little comfort, after all, from what at

first sight seems a charter for all imaginable
license, as Irving Babbitt ("The New Lao-
koon") took it to be. The criticism is, indeed,
anticipated in "The Aesthetic" where he speaks
of that "which is vulgarly called invention."

The criticism, also by Irving Babbitt, that
Croce neglects the so-called "higher intuitions,"
is not well-founded, for it is met in the passage
I have just cited, and also where he says,
"Those concepts which are found mingled and
fused with the intuitions, are no longer con-
cepts, in so far as they really are mingled and
fused," and yet again, more specifically (in
the "Aesthetic") :—

The savage has speech, intellect, religion and
morality, in common with civilized man. The
only difference lies in that civilized man pene-
trates and dominates a larger portion of the
universe with his theoretic and practical ac-
tivity. We cannot claim to be more spiritually
alert than, for example, the age of Pericles ; but
no one can deny that we are richer than they —
rich with their riches and with those of how
many other peoples and generations besides our
own?

Thus form arises from form not by mechani-
cal addition, but 'by intuitjional elaboration ;
and content grows richer and richer accord-
ingly as concepts cease to be concepts: so it is
that, while a poet cannot write "to order,"
when he does write, he writes in an orderly
manner; so it is that certain things in modern
life seem out of place in a poem, because they
drag with them a train of scientific associations,
— Galsworthy's "The Silver Box," for example,
is a sociological play, and we are accordingly
distracted from the artistic enjoyment of it.

As I have lapsed for a moment into the com-
mon division of form and content, it may be
opportune for me to put Croce 's thesis in the
simplest manner — that in art there is no such
thing as a synonym, which is at once seen to
be true.

The beauty of Croce 's demonstration can best
be appreciated by showing it in relation to other
criticism, as, for example Coleridge's dictum
that science and not prose is the true antithesis
of poetry, the difference being however that
Croce 's work does not consist of flashes of in-
sight, but is the steady light of truth not mere-
ly piercing, but illuminating the darkness.

Here is justified Theodore Watts-Dunton's
famous definition of poetry, so far as it goes:
"Absolute poetry is the concrete and artistic
expression of the human mind in emotional and
rhythmical language." Watts-Dunton 's pecu-
liar, and not very well understood, qualifica-

April, 1919.

GAS WIAS BOOR 1/ 1 \

t ion, ' 'concrete, ' is .-it once made 1 >r in-

tuitions can only be of things. Watts Dunton's
criticism of Matthew Arnold's phrase "criti-
cism of life," to the effecl thai such criticism
of life must, in poetry, be implicit, not explicit,
is also made clear, which is important, as Wbrs
fold in his "The Principles of Criticism'
vives Matthew Arnold's criterion.

Heroin is justified De Quincey's distinction
between the literature of knowledgi and of
power; and herein is settled all that Words
worth did say. or anyone else could say, con-
cerning pot tic tint ion. for a poetic diction (in
the reprehensible sense of the phrase) is incon-
ceivable with pur< intuition. Here we find
Shelley's "The Defence of Poetry" correctly
appraised as "the most notable contribution (of
its time), in English, containing profound but
unsystematic, views, as to tin' distinction be-
tween reason and imagination, prose and
poetry, on primitive language, and on the poetic
power of objeetifieation."

It is as criticism has become more exact, how-
ever (I have had to mention Worsfold before
his time), that the brilliance of Croce's per-
formance is most evident, and it would be in-
teresting to know whether Arthur Ransome had,
or had not. read Croee before writing his essay,
"Art for Life's Sake," from which I quote the
following :

Recognising (1) that a work of art has a
political, comparable to its moral influence, (2)
that it always embodies knowledge, (31 that it
is nothing if it does not wake in us the feeling
that we are near the achievement of the beauti-
ful— we wish to deny none of these facts, but to
prevent any one of them being taken as the
foundation of a criterion of art. We wish to
set over them a criterion of art that shall in-
clude them all. Above technique, above opinion,
above information, we set life, of the special
kind that is here described, whose conscious vi-
tality is to unconscious vitality what living is
to existence . . that man is the greatest

artist who makes us the most profoundly eon
scions of life. Shakespeare is set above Herrick,
who was a better technician, and Leonardo above
Murillo. who painted more devotional subjects,
on grounds with which men, neither as artists
nor moralists, need quarrel.

There was (if I remember rightly) a dispute
as to priority in the title of this article be-
tween Arthur Ransome and a French writer ;
if so. I must suspect that it was a quarrel be-
tween thieves ! I hope, however, that I am mis-
taken, and that it fell to him to make the first
clear statement in English upon the relation

between art and morals, that a poem HI 0 r
can be neither moral nor immoral.

I have alreadj alluded to Arthur Bymona'
"The Romantic Movement in English Poetry,"

and es| ially the "Introduction" thereto.

cepl that it is not rigorously written, 1 would
have chosen it instead of the "Aesthetic" as my
prologue. There is here n<> question at all of
indebtedness, He takes up the problem where
Croce leaves it. Croee demonstrates the in-
tuitively lyrical nature of poetry. At that he
leaves it. It is only on turning to the "Philo-
sophy of the Practical." that you there find in
passant the apparent antinomy. Symons on the
very first page, by the mere terminology he
there elaborates, solves the practical problem.
Prose is at once seen to be the most fitting but
not essential medium of the prosaic, as poetry
is the most fitting but not essential medium of
the poetic, thus :

The on.- safeguard for the poet is to say to
himself: What 1 can write in prose I will not
allow myself to write in verse, out of mere
honour to my material. The further I can ex-
tend my prose, the further do I set the limits of
verse. Th.' region of poetry wilMhus always
be the beyond, the ultimate, and with the least
possible chance of any confusion of territory.

One has only to add to this, what Symons per-
fectly well knows, that the poet says to himself
nothing of the kind, but just goes and does it.
The result of a poet doing violence to his in-
tuition is seen in the work of Meredith. . .
but perhaps the perpetual complaint in the Let-
ters, that he was forced to write novels he-
cause poetry did not pay, shows him no true
lover of the Muse ! However, to be serious
again, neither Meredith nor Hardy, both poets
and novelists, are under anyr illusion as to the
fundamental difference between writing a novel
and a poem, and we need not waste time, at
this stage, on Worsfold 's further contention
that novels should be again called, as they once
were, poems.

Sir Henry Newbolt, collecting his papers in
"The English Review." under the title, "A
Xew Study of English Poetry," is almost a
Simon-pure disciple of Croce's. Croce is open-
ly mentioned only in the chapter, "The Poet
and his Audience," and it is to take issue with
him — which is rather ungenerous, as he is the
power behind the throne in passage after pass-
age elsewhere, — yet the acknowledgment is
more inadequate than ungenerous. The very
figure of the crucible in which "the aesthetic
and the intellectual materials are so effectually

('AXAOTAN BOOKMAN

April, j 919.

reduced to one substance that the whole mass
becomes one single though highly complex in-
tuition" occurs in the chapter "The Approach
to Shakespeare," and the chapter, "Poetry and
Personality" is built up on Croce 's statement
concerning genius, the figure of the crucible,
and this passage in the "Aesthetic" which fol-
lows it :

This also explains why it is customary to at-
tribute to artists alike the maximum of sensi-
bility or passion, and the maximum insensi-
bility or Olympic serenity. Both qualifications
agree, for they do not refer to the same object.
The sensibility or passion relates to the rich ma-
terial which the artist absorbs into his psychic
organism ; the insensibility or serenity to the
form with which he subjugates and dominates
the tumult of the feelings and of the passions.

So closely, indeed, does Sir Henry follow
Croce, that, although he has dared to criticize
the master in one respect, it would appear that
he has deferred in another, even against his
own poetic practice — such is the force of logic !
. . . or is it that Sir Henry has not read
the "Philosophy of the Practical"? For he
essays a new definition of poetry :

Poetry is the expression in speech, more or
less rhythmical, of the aesthetic activity of the
human spirit, the creative activity by which the
world is presented to our consciousness. Good
poetry is not merely the expression of our in-
tuitions, it is the masterly expression of rare,
complex and difficult states of consciousness;
and great poetry, the poetry which has power
to stir many men and stir them deeply, is the
expression of our consciousness of this world,
tinged with man's universal longing for a world
more perfect, nearer to the heart's desire.

You see ! the language is quite Crocean ! But
before I note the defect of this definition, let
me point out the exceeding beauty of that part
of it relating to great poetry. Not in the vul-
gar sense, poetry is ideal. As Arthur Symons
says, "There is no form of art which is not an
attempt to capture life, to create life over
again." But this also is not to be read in the
vulgar sense. The latter would lead to the
theory of art as imitation. The former would
lead to worse still — the redeeming power of
good intentions — but it is perhaps more true in
art than anywhere else, that these pave the
floors of Hell. The ideal in the strict sense,
follows naturally from the theory of art as
intuition, and the equivocations of the strict
S use are duly dealt with by Croce.

But why that "more or less rhythmical"? I
see the novel creeping in by the backdoor, and

surely enough it does! (p. 23). What is the
reason for this diffidence over rhythm? Croce,
as I have said, concerned in the "Aesthetic"
with the theoretic only, finds no distinction be-
tween prose and poetry, except in art and
science. Yet, in the "Philosophy of the Prac-
tical," he implies the natural corollary of the
definition of pure intuition as essentially lyric-
ism, the corollary which Symons makes explicit.
The reason is, I think, the paralysing fear that
just as some dry-as-dust critics of the poets
of the romantic revival have since been made
to look very foolish, so the critic who should
set up bounds to-day may in like manner be
confounded to-morrow. Yet, what "every poet
knows" is surely not so indefinite? What
does "every poet" do? "Every poet" employs
rhythm of a regular and recurrent kind. When
the practice of seven centuries of poetry, starred
with the most diverse geniuses, can be shown to
be reducible to a common denominator, it is a
fair deduction that this is due not to any arbit-
rary decree, but to a vital principle, and that
to enunciate it, is not to vie with the folly
of Canute, but, on the contrary, is to discern
the motion of the tides. Prosody is no more
jurisprudence than is science.

The practice of "every poet" has been ex-
amined by Prof. Saiutsbury, whose irrefragible
conclusions I give :

Every modern English verse shows a nisus
(an effort) towards being composed of feet of
one, two or three syllables. The foot of one
syllable is always, long, strong, stressed, accent-
ed, what-not. The foot of two syllables usually
consists of one lonpr and one short syllable, and
though it is not essential that either should
come first, the short precedes rather more com-
monly. The foot of three syllables never has
more than one long syllable in it, and that
syllable, save in the most exceptional rhythms,
is always the first or the third. In modern
poetry, by no means usually, but not seldom, it
has no Ion? syllable at all. The foot of one syl-
lable is practically not found except in the
first or last place of a line, at a strong caesura
or break. The foot of two syllables and three
syllables may, subject to the rules below, be
found anywhere. . . These feet of two and
three syllables may be very freely substituted
for each other. There is a certain metrical norm
which must not be confused by too frequent
substitution. (Italics mine.) In no case, or
hardly any case, must such combinations be put
together so that a juxtaposition of more than
three short syllables results.

J. B. Mayor ("Chapters on English Metre")
cites from Tennyson half a dozen lines which
show that three unstressed syllables can come
together:

April, 1919.

CANADIAN r.ook MAS

I ■

QaUopmg of hor I sea o | ver tin- grass | y

plain
Petulant ! she spoke ' and al | herself | she

laughed
Modulatt mi soul of min ! cing mi | micry
Hammering and clink ! ing chat | tering

sto ! ny names
Glorify ing clown | and sat ] yr whence

they need
Timorous j >'.</ "»</ as ! the lead | er of | the

herd.

But it will be at once seen that Prof. Saints
bury's "hardly any case" is quite justified.
Even so, Prof. Saintsbury's dictum, that the
metrical norm of the line must not be departed
from, is observed in the most artful of these
lines, the last, which scans: dactyl, anapaest,
iamb, iamb, iamb — and the norm is seen to be
iambic. They are all the studied effects of one
who was ever more a craftsman than a seer.

That this the only rational way of analysing
verse, and that unlimited substitutions, based
on the musical analogy of crotchets, quavers.
and semi-quavers, are absurd, may very easily
be shown by writing two six-stress lines with
totally different rhythms:

Sir Richard spoke and he laughed and

we roared a hurrah and so
With head, hands, wings, or feet pursues

his way.

The most fitting comment on the "stress-
system'' is that Sidney Lanier's poetry is all
explicable without it, for the reason that, what-
ever theories he held in his ratiocinative mo-
ments, he cast them aside in the moment of in-
tuition ; whilst Robert Bridges, writing his
"The Feast of Bacchus" in a merely ratiocin-
ative manner, has written something which
could never be called poetry, and which is pro-
perly torn into shreds, piece by piece, by Mayor.

I should be wasting time to discuss the "sylla-
bic-system, ' ' and so I record my agreement with
Prof. Saintsbury that:

The foot-system, with equivalence and sub-
stitution allowed, neither neglects nor sup-
presses any part of the line in any case, but
accounts fully for all parts. It applies to poetry
only, and, to a large extent, explains the differ-
ence between good poetry and bad. It adjusts
itself to the entire history of English verse,
since the language took the turn which made it
English in the full' sense. It requires no metri-
cal fictions, no suppression of syllables, no al-
lowance of extra-metrical ones, no alteration in
pronouncing, no conflict between accent and
quantity. Xo period or kind of English poetry
is pronounced wrong by it, though it may allow

that certain periods have exercised their rights
and privileges more fully than others. Iii short,

it takes the poetry as it is. and has been for
seven hundred years at least; bars nothing;
carves, cuts and corrects nothing; begs no ques
tions; involves no make believes: but accepts the

facts, and makes out of them what, and what
only, the facts will bear.

Emphasizing again that these are not lerral

enactments, but principles dedi d from the

practice of the poets, let me also emphasise that

it is by them that we may, in (Voce's words,
most assuredly know both the "blind follower
of tradition and imitator," and also the "char-
latanesque innovator." And, if it be urged
that I have only spoken of English poetry. I
reply that, whatever be the language, its poetry
will be distinguished from its prose by the same
i ssential difference in rhythm. For example,
many foolish things have been said about the
Authorised Version of the Book of Job, and of
the Psalms, in this connection, sometimes by
those who ought at least to know that Hebrew
poetry has laws just as "tyrannous" as those
which govern English.

If, by his "more or less," Sir Henry Newbolt
had meant the difference between "Piers Plow-
man," the "Canterbury Tales" and the "Pro-
thalamion," between rudimentary and articu-
lated rhythm. I should have no quarrel with
him; but he clearly means that the poet of to-
day may, without loss, forego his inheritance
from the ages, and adopt an aesthetico-logical
form— the novel. He forgets that the true poet
of to-day does not say, "I will write a sonnet
on 'that'." "That" comes to him as a sonnet.
If he does say, "I will," the result is at once
seen to be frigid. It is, as I have said, the
complexity of modern poetry, which produces
the illusion of a qualitative difference between
a lyric by Burns or Blake, and "St. Agnes
Eve."

It is the same complexity that leads to par-
tial criteria, such as Matthew Arnold's. But
the one condition that "isms" and "osophies"
enter into poetry, is that they shall cease to be
"isms" and "osophies." By this, poetry as
the universal is also shown to be false. As a
special criterion, it would lead to poets of the
Urge being ascribed the greatest. The universal
belongs to science. Poetry can only be univer-
sal by the range of things and ideas it can trans-
mute in the flame of the imagination. In this
sense, Shakespeare was a universal poet,

It will be superfluous for me to offer a de-
finition of poetry on my own behalf. To do so.

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

April, 1919.

would be only to cross the i's and dot the t's
of all that the method of this synthesis implies.
If the spirit of it is to be summarised, I shall
say that, in a word, all special pleading is for-
eign to true poetry, whether it be in Words-
worth's prefaces, or those of Amy Lowell or
Edgar Lee Masters (who announces in his pre-
face to "Towards The Gulf," that his object
is to mirror the age and the country in which
he lives — which Tennyson did far better by not
taking thought about it). I should like to say
that all the critics whom I have laid under
tribute will repay the deepest respect and at-
tention— even Mr. Worsfold, whom I only had
to take exception to, because he^ made just this
error of making explicit what should only be

implicit, — but Croce and Symons alone show a
complete grasp of the question. The corner-
stones of a sound critical method will be iden-
tity of intuition and lyricism (Croce), poetry as
distinct from prose as the natural form (Sy-
mons, soiind prosody (Prof. Saintsbury).

Rhyme is con discrezione.

Poetry is almost everything incidentally, but
essentially, as Symons, the "end of poetry" is
"to be poetry," or as Croce says, poetry is
lyric intuition, or as I put it, the poetic in verse.

Lafacadio Hearn developed no formal theory
of poetry, but the extraordinary taste, balance
and discrimination displayed in his four books
of criticism, might well have been based upon
this implicit definition.

A Dream of Japanese Prints

By EDITH WHERRY

U IROSHIGE, Hokusai,

Hail to you, good fellows;
Bald-pate dreamers of the sky,
Silver storks and fish that fly,
Lakes and moons and maidens shy,
In old blues and yellows;

Dawn pink, gold and malachite.
"Floating World" illusions,
Water-falls in star-struck light,
Fuji Yama's fabled height,
Cherry petals falling white,
Old Japan's profusions;

Lines of immemorial grace,
Scented, magic pages,
Spring-frost dreams of airy lace,
Winter moon in chambered space,
Phantom calm of oval face,
Shinto gods and mages.

Sweetheart, would that you and I
Towards Tokio were wending,
You, a two-sword Samurai
Boldly sashed in fashion high,
T, a lotos-princess shy,
Upward glances sending.

April, 1919.

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

The "Colyum" in Canada

By BEN DEACON

Illustrations by J. B. PITZMAURICE

IN contemporary annals the newspaper
humorist is almost invariably presented in
a false light.

He is pictured as an exceedingly morose and
reticent person in intercourse with his fellow
man, a person who is as dull as an old pewter
mug in public, and who shines only when
pounding of a typewriter or sharpening up a
quip in the proof.

A Press Humorists' convention is commonly
supposed to be every bit as cheerful as a meeting
of the undertakers of a successful health re-
sort. Whenever the paragraphers convene,
some gay young genius on the reportorial staff
of the local paper rushes to his Remington and
hammers out a funny story about the funny
men, letting the public into the secret. He repre-

"Daly's the fellow who writes all the funny stuff
in the Evening Blare."

sents the gathering as very nearly as solemn as
a Quaker Sabbath and as cheerless as the bank-
ruptcy court. He describes with a wonderful
wealth of detail the appearance of the dele-
gates, sitting around glaring mournfully at one
another, and he always propounds the theory
that they are all afraid to spring anything
funny lest some other delegate may steal it.

This is the good old stock story about the
press humorists. Like some of the war reports
that emanated from Berlin, it contains a very
small grain of truth. The press humorist is
certainly not always blithe and gay. Among
his fellows he is generally a merry soul, but in
public — well, in public he is apt to be just a com-
mon ordinary citizen like the stockbroker, or the
government clerk, or the milkman.

He is sometimes sad very sad. If you had
spent some nine hours in a newspaper office
struggling with the eul> reporter's grammar,
trying to decipher indecipherable sheets of
telegraphic despatches, squabbling with print-
ers, getting yourself messed up with mucilage,
translating the owner's political ambitions into
innocent-looking editorial comment, losing your
shears just when you want to clip something
important, reading the proofs of the Sunday
sermon, faking the thermometer readings, and
doing a score or more of other journalistic
chores, and you then sat down before a pile of
blank paper with perfectly blank brain, and
knew that you could not go home until you had
worried out a column of bright and breezy para-
graphs upon passing events — or if you did go
home before finishing off the column, knew
that you would have to spend the evening mind-
ing the baby with one hand and writing jokes
with the other — well, wouldn't you feel sad?

The press humorist is very often reticent, but
that is not because he fears that some one is
going to steal his jokes. It is simply because he
knows that if he is too communicative he will be
expected to light up the proceedings with a few
brilliant wheezes. And the. average press hum-
orist does not combust spontaneously. It is a
difficult thing to be spontaneously humorous.
It can be done, of course. George Ham can do
it, but then he doesn't have to grind out a
whole column of it every day, rain or shine.

The press humorist is generally of a retir-
ing disposition. He has even been known to
slink home by the by-ways and back alleys. If
he is well known in the community he has to,
not necessarily to dodge bill-collectors, but to
avoid being waylaid by the individual who
knows just how a humorous column should be
conducted. This party has a habit of turning
up at unexpected places.

"Say!" he exclaims, stopping the unfortu-
nate paragrapher, "I have something good
for your colyum. "

Then, after fishing about in his pockets for
a few minutes, he produces a clipping from
"Tit-Bits" containing a jest that the late Joe
Miller rejected as old stuff.

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

April, 1019.

The press humorist may dodge the party with
the clipping, but he has a hard time dodging the
Enthusiastic Friend. The Enthusiastic Friend
is generally a nice fellow who means well, but
he is a thorn in the flesh nevertheless. He is
liable to drift into the office without the slight-
est warning at any time. He always brings an-
other party with him.

"Joe," he gurgles excitedly as he pushes his
companion forward, "I want you to meet Mr.
Daly Rimes. Daly's the fellow who writes all
the funny stuff in the Evening Blare. Didja
read that one he had in yesterday about the
aldermen? That was a pippin! Howd'ja ever
think of that one, Daly?

Then he stands and gazes with fond expect-
ancy upon the blushing paragrapher somewhat
in the attitude of a man exhibiting a pup,
which he has just taught a new trick. He is
waiting for the paragrapher to perform. And
if the luckless newspaper wight fails to come
through with something which evokes a real
hearty laugh from the party for whose benefit
he is being exhibited, the Enthusiastic Friend
will stab him with an expression of pained sur-
prise, and on the face of the Enthusiastic
Friend's friend will be written the verdict,
"Punk show! Certainly not worth climbing all
those stairs!"

The Enthusiastic Friend always adopts an
air of proprietorship in regard to the para-
grapher that is particularly annoying. He is a
patron of Art, and he prides himself on it even
though his patronage costs him nothing but his
idle moments. He glimmers in a sort of reflect-
ed glory.

And yet the attitude of the Enthusiastic
Friend always conveys the impression that, if
he cared to bother with such things, he could
turn out a much better "Colyum" than the par-
agrapher himself. He has never fabricated a
jest or a jingle, or perpetrated an acute-angled
remark in his life, but of course he knows very
well that he could — it is merely a matter of
sitting down at a rather untidy desk with a
good supply of copy paper.

He is wrong. Turning out a column of para-
graphs is a hard day's toil for any one man.
It is not the actual amount of stuff that is turn-
ed out, but the amount of thought that the
cohimn of print implies. In the average care-
fully-wrought column you will find enough
ideas to furnish material for two or three edi-
torial pages. It is merely a matter of expand-
ing them and infusing the combination of pon-
derous solemnity of phrase and light-hearted

inaccuracy of fact that is the hall-mark of the
Canadian daily newspaper editorial. In fact,
it has been said, perfectly truthfully said, that
the newspaper paragraph is merely the editorial
in its shortest possible form.

The editorial writer comments upon three or
four subjects per day. The paragrapher must
seek out fifteen to twenty subjects to comment
upon, and he must deal with them in a man-
ner that is going to tickle the reader's fancy.
This is not a light task, particularly as finan-
cial conditions of the Canadian papers do not
allow of the employment of paragraphers or
column conductors, merely as such, practically
all of them having to look after various other
journalistic jobs as well. If you have any idea
that the position is a sinecure, ask the first
paragrapher you chance to meet and be en-

"Say! I have something good for your colyum."

lightened. Let me, in the role of Enthusiastic
Friend, introduce you to a few of them.

Come, first, to the office of the Toronto News
where we will find the owner of the magic in-
itials "J.E.M. " which appeared at the foot of
the "On the Side" column for many years. He
is Jesse Edgar Middleton, Grand High Priest
of the Gentle Josh and president emeritus of
the Royal Society of Colyum Hitters.

A few months ago the "On the Side" column
disappeared from the editorial page of the
News, Mr. Middleton having been forced to as-
sume new editorial tasks which made the carry-
ing on of the column an impossibility for the
present. I believe "On the Side" will be back
in the News soon, or Toronto will have more
rioting. And personally I would not blame the
News readers for taking the law into their
hands should the column be withheld much
longer.

April. 1019.

' i \ i />/.i. v 'BOOR 1/ i \

We ascend a somewhal dingy flight of staira
to the second floor. As Enthusiastic Friend,
We of course burst righl into the room without
knocking. Mr. Middleton is sitting al a large
desk, much littered with papers. He looks
up witli a somewhat uncertain, uneasy air.
Newton McOonnell, who cartoons industrious-
ly in a corner of the same office, si/.es us up over

the top of his high-slanting drawing hoard.
Both appear a trifle apprehensive. Evidently
they fear the worst. Most likely We are going
to produce a clipping from "Tit- Hits" and
offer it as a contribution to "On the Side."

Mr. Middleton is inclined to look upon the
would-be contributor with suspicion. He be-
lieves that it is perfectly legitimate for the edi-
tor of a humorous column to look a gift joke
in the mouth. He once declared to me:

Before a pile of blank paper with a perfectly blank
brain.

"I have noticed in colyuining that the con-
tributors one does not want are plentiful, and
the others like hens' dentistry for scarcity."

Despite, or perhaps (on second thought) be-
cause of this attitude. "On the Side" had a
following of remarkably clever "contribs. "
Mr. Middleton organized "The Royal Society
of Colyum Hitters," and a fellowship in the so-
ciety' involved a stiff matriculation test. Mr.
Middleton was never so lavish with his honors
as was the government.

The day that Middleton was born he took a
good look at the world and saw that it was
funny. His face wrinkled up into a cherubic
smile and he gave a good-natured gurgle of de-
light. He thought: "No one can possibly take
this place seriously: I bet I can have a lot of
fun with it as soon as I become strong enough
to pound a typewriter." That outlook upon
the world he retains to the present day, and the

little wrinkles at tin- corners of his cy-s beam
out a reflection of that first smile. Middleton
first saw the urn-Id through the windows of the

Methodist parsonage at Pilkington township.

Wellington county, Ontario. The Methodist
parson is much on the move. He is supposed
always to settle up, but he never can settle

down. Therefore Middleton. ;i- ;i boy, had op-
portunity of studying human nature in various
places, and he always found it amusing. He
studied other things at Strathroy Collegiate In-
stitute and at the Dutton High School. His

first real .joke was at tl xpense of the writing

fraternity. He went to Cleveland. Ohio, and
became a proof reader. II.- continued that jo'
on the Cleveland writers for three years, and
then, escaping somehow with his life, he fled
to Quebec City and went over to the other side.
He became a writer. After passing his cub
hood on the Quebec papers, he went to Toronto
as musical critic of the Mail anil Empire. In
1904 Sir John Willison gathered up an all-star
staff for the News. Middleton was picked as
Dramatic Editor. He moved to the News office
and began to "do" the drama.

Then one day, when Middletoij was still fol-
lowing the trail which led Bernard Shaw to pub-
licity and pelf, the well-known and much-dis-
cussed tide within the affairs of men turned,
and the initials "J.E.M." adorned a column.

Sir John Willison happened into the local
room and asked all the men there assembled to
write him a few paragraphs from time to time
for use on the editorial page. Middleton forth-
with did a dozen, and coopered up a little light
verse as well. The next day he was a para-
graphic permanency. None of the other men
had done any. Middleton had unconsciously
accepted the nomination.

"A great moral thesis might be written on this
text." declares J.E.M. , "something about seiz-
ing the passing hour."

And now. having met the mysterious
"J.E.M.", perhaps you would like to ask him
something about the labor involved in grinding
out a daily column, or, as he might term it, a
"perpendicular of persiflage." or "an obelisk
of observation." Here is his answer, clipped
from "On The Side":

If I get up at Six o'clock

(I did that thing this morning)
Disdaining the last forty winks

And Sloth's inducements scorning.
Then I can sit me down to write

In silence and the kitchen
(The very thing I'm doing now>

Our Littachoor enrichin'.

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

April, 1019.

If I remain abed till Seven

(The deed sometimes is done)
I cannot twang the lyre until

The day's work is begun,
Then interruptions come, and proofs,

And papers I must read ;
Tin- first fine flow'r of rhythmic thought

(Alas!) has gone to seed.

But if I snored till Eight o'clock,

My life were dull and grey,
I would be laboring at rhymes

Through all the weary day.
And savage printers would appear

Ere ever I could hide,
All growling in their furious way:

"WELL! Where is On The Side?"

Thus I reveal their savage tricks.

Needs must, when printers drive,
And therefore I arise at Six

(Thank Heaven it isn't Five).

There is a smiling personality beaming out
of J.E.M.'s column that is irresistible. He has
an inimitable way of tickling the reader's
fancy with quaint and unusual phrases, and he
writes for all classes. He has a genius for rhyme
and can knock together a verse on any con-
ceivable subject at a moment's notice. But the
jingle and the josh are not his only song as is
evidenced by a volume of very fine patriotic
verse recently published.

H. D. Carman, of the Toronto Star, does not
undertake a full column every day, but never-
theless he does his daily bit to enliven this dull
world. "A Little Bit of Everything" con-
sists of from a quarter of a column to half a
column of cheer and is one of the Star's bright-
est features. Mr. Carman generally waltmasons
on some topical subject and then runs a dozen
or so pert and pertinent paragraphs, with now
and then a bit of light verse sandwiched in
somewhere.

"A Little Bit of Everything" was originated
by H. F. Gadsby, who for some years now has
been devoting his literary energies to brighten-
ing up the political life of the Capital. His
articles are syndicated to newspapers through-
out the Dominion. Mr. Gadsby is now one of
Canada's leading humorists, but he began his
career as a humble paragrapher. When he left
the Toronto Star to 'write-up" Ottawa, and
Ottawa's inhabitants, Mr. Carman became skip-
per of the "Bit of Everything" column.

Mr. Carman was born in Sarnia. That was
so long ago that he has forgotten the details, he
declares, but he does not believe the event was
essentially different from millions of similar

events which have occurred in well regulated
families, both before and since. He was— but
let him tell it in his own way :

" I'evolved from the printer's case to the desk
after many vicissitudes, during which I grew up
and acquired as little education as the teachers
would let me off with. My humorous faculties
— such as they are — lay dormant, I think, until
I was 21, when I put up a joke on one of the
girls, who didn't realize it until she found her-
self tied up to me for life. I have had the
laugh on her ever since.

"My first experience in daily newspaper work
was on the Sarnia Post. My career there was
brilliant, so much so that the paper died and
then I went to the then prosperous London
Daily News. I remained until I saw that paper
safely into the decline, and then joined the To-
ronto Daily Star staff, where they have let me
stay ever since."

I asked Mr. Carman for his real, honest-to-
goodness opinion of the paragrapher 's trade.

"I have wholesome respect for the occupa-
tion," he declared. "I regard the paragraph as
the neatest thing that was ever invented in the
editorial line, inasmuch as the paragrapher has
the privilege of driving the nail home with
one brief, lusty swat, while the leader writer
has to hammer through half to a whole column
of space to drive the same idea home. Life
for many is a sad, stern grind from the cradle
to the grave, and if I can bring even a faint
fleeting smile to a careworn visage occasionally,
I feel that I have done something worth while.
I would rather cheer one sad heart for a min-
ute than make a whole army weep for a week.
I would rather write a good paragraph than a
cheque — which wouldn't be any good anyway."

You will find "The Khan's Corner" every
evening in the Toronto Telegram, but to find
The Khan you will have to go to Rushdale
Farm at Rockton, Ontario. He is none other
than Robert Kirkland Kernighan, well known
in literary circles as the author of "The Tattle-
ton Papers," and several volumes of verse. At
Rushdale Farm he was born in 1857, and at
Rushdale Farm he lives today. But he has been
away from the farm between times. He has
had a long newspaper career, having been con-
nected with the Hamilton Spectator, the old
Winnipeg Sun, and several Toronto papers.

The Khan is not a paragrapher. His column
has continuity. It is filled every day with a
sort of meandering philosophy written in a
delightfully quaint and humorous style. Besides
being fascinating reading, it contains much
good sound common sense.

April. 1919.

C I \.!/>/,l.\ BOOR l/IA

r,l

The "breeziness" of the West is reflected
in the "Col) nana" of the three Winnipeg pa-
pers. All three serve political masters, and
their editorial pages are therefore apt to be
sometimes rather saddening, but the daily
column devoted to original humor serves to take
the curse off the editorial axe-grinding.

The Free Press Evening Bulletin, which is
the evening edition of the Manitoba Free Press,
serves up its daily menu of light reading mat-
ter under the title, "As You Like It.*' It is
an apt title, for, judging by the popularity of
the column, it is indeed pretty much as the pa-
per's readers like it. David Bruce MacRae, the
editor of "As You Like It,* was born at Max-
well, in Glengarry county, Ontario, and there-
fore there is reasonable ground for suspicion
that he is of Scotch descent. However, he com-
pletely refutes the slander about the Scotch and
the sense of humor. His column makes light of
passing events in a good-natured, mirth-provok-
ing way that reveals not only a very keen sense
of humor, but a very distinct understanding
of human nature and its many frailties as
well. Mr. MacRae is still a young man, but
he has had extensive newspaper experience. He
served on the Ottawa Journal and Peterboro
Examiner as reporter and "desk" man for a
number of years. In 1911 he went to the Win-
nipeg Free Press as reporter. His sense of
humor asserted itself and very shortly after his
arrival he was selected to give the ribs of the
Free Press readers the paragraphic tickle in "As
You Like It."

The Winnipeg Tribune's "Trumps" have
been famous in the prairie metropolis for many
years. "Tribune Trumps" were originated by
Knox Magee, now editor of the Winnipeg Tele-
gram. Mr. Magee was brought from Toronto,
where he edited "Saturday Night," by Mr. Rich-
ardson, publisher of the Tribune, with the idea
of putting "pep" into the paper. Mr. Magee
put the desired "pep" into it in a number of
ways, one of which was the launching of the
"Tribune Trumps" column. That was quite
a few years ago, and the "Trumps'* which Mr.
Magee wrote are now buried deep in the Tribune
files. I have never seen any of them, but I
imagine they did not lack ginger. This sur-
mise is borne out by the word of some of the
city's old-timers. (The old-timer, by the way,
is one of the favorite products of the West.)
They all agree that Mr. Magee said just exact-
ly what he intended to say in good plain King's
English. And they still quote some of his
"Trumps" to this day.

The "Trumps ' .-< »1 1 1 n 1 r 1 for some years now
has been under the direction of Mr. .J. J. Mon-

crief, the present Managing Editor of the Tri-
bune. When you meel Mr. Monerief you get
a good firm hand-clasp and a gentle, benign
"Hello brother!" sort of smile. And the column
is just like that. Mr. Monerief does not write
everything that finds its way into the column —
I imagine he calls for volunteers from the local
staff now and then — but everything he writes
stands out by its cheery good-nature and bluff,
hearty style. He deals chiefly in gentle joshes
aimed at prominent citizens, most of them old-
timers. Sometimes the joke is a private one,
intelligible only to the writer and to the man
at whom it is aimed. But, even though you
may not understand it, there is always a cheeri-
ness about the little paragraph that puts you in
a mood to chuckle. Mr. "Monerief is the direc-
tor of the oratorio society, and any day that
the "Trumps" column does not contain a quip
about the choir, or the choir's activities, you
know that he is out of town.

The "Good Evening" column is one of the
most popular features of the Telegram. It first
appeared some four years ago and has "had sev-
eral editors and many contributors. Mr. Robert
Purves is the present incumbent. Mr. Purves is
the only man I know who is both publisher and
paragrapher. He came to Canada from the Old
Country some eight years ago and headed for
the West. After various experiences he landed
in Balcarries, Sask.. where he purchased a paper.
It was — well, it was merely a typical country
weekly when he bought it. In a few weeks the
subscribers began to sit up and take notice.
In a few months he had stamped his personality
upon it and made it talked about — and read.
Then, when it became successful financially,
Mr. Purves felt the call of the bright lights, and
the movies of a big city. He left the weekly in
charge of a partner and went to Winnipeg, join-
ing the Telegram staff. The personality which
he put into the country weekly now shines in
the "Good Evening' column and makes it a
part of Winnipeg's favorite literature.

A particular feature of the "Good Evening"
column is "The Grouch." This fictitious mis-
anthrope complains daily about some real or
supposed public grievance. Through him, Mr.
Purves hits off local conditions and events, and
throws a searchlight of satire on the unneces-
sary ills that flesh is heir to. In spite of his
disgruntled disposition, The Grouch is one of
the most popular and most often quoted person-
ages in Winnipeg.

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

April, 1919.

Up to a few months ago the morning edition
of the Free Press ran a column which had a
big following of readers, particularly among
the city's "intellectuals." It was called "Heli-
ograms," and its eponymous conductor was Mr.
W J Healy, now editor of the Grain Growers'
Guide In his column Mr. Healy aimed at a
rather more literary style than is to be found
in the average newspaper feature and, as a re-
sult probably shot over the heads of a good
"many readers. The column contained much fine
wit and some good verse, however, and will be
missed by a great many of the paper's subscrib-
ers. In undertaking to guide the gram grow-
ers Mr. Healy has not altogether put aside his
sense of humor. He has done what might well
be considered the impossible— introduced a vein
of humor into the Grain Growers' Guide. A
page of that publication is now devoted to Mr.
Healy 's version of "Pepys' Diary," a feature
of the former "Heliogram" column in which
Winnipeg events are dealt with as they might
have appeared to the famous diarrst.

One of the most interesting of Canadian par-
agraphed is to be found in Saskatoon, Sask.,
dealing out light-hearted and inconsequential
remarks every day through the "Starbeams"
columns of the Star. He is Harris Turner.
Everybody in Saskatoon knows him; everybody
likes him; nearly everybody reads his column.
Mr. Turner is a native of Saskatoon and began
his newspaper career on the old Phoenix of that
city. After several years as a reporter on the
Phoenix he went to the Star. When Mr. W.
Scott Darling, the originator of the "Star-
beams" column, left the paper to become pub-
licity man for a big department store, Mr. Tur-
ner took over the column. That was about five
years ago. When the Kaiser turned the fawcet
and allowed the stream of frightfulness sud-
denly to ooze through Belgium Mr. Turner gave
up the business of joking to adopt the more
serious business of helping to stop th« German
rush. He went overseas with a western bat-
talion and was among those conspicuously
present in several of the biggest of the war's
early. battles. At Ypres he was severely wound-
ed, and when he was finally discharged from the
hospital he knew that he was doomed to dark-
ness for the remainder of his life. The loss of
his sight had not the slightest effect upon hia
disposition. Cheery and smiling as of old, he
returned to Saskatoon and again took up the
editorship of "Starbeams."

Mr. Turner's column overflows with mirth.
It takes many a rap at many a man, but always

in a sunny, smiling way. It is never cynical
and never bitter. It is pure, good-natured fun.
And it is a reflection of the man who writes
it.

Out at the Pacific coast they seem to take life
too seriously for the funny man to flourish.
None of the papers runs a column of original
humor, that phase of newspaper work in Van-
couver and Victoria being attended to by the
scissors method. There are several departments
of light editorial comment, however, notably
"The World's Window," in the Vancouver
World, and "Street Corners" in the Vancou-
ver Province. The latter is a column dealing
chiefly with local affairs, sometimes seriously,
sometimes in satirical vein, but always interest-
ingly. It is presided over by Mr. Bernard Mc-
Evoy, one of the best known of Vancouver's
newspaper men.

From the historical point of view one of the
most interesting of newspaper columns is prob-
ably the Montreal Herald's "Sieve." It has
not been notable for its sittings during the past
few years — some one may have knocked a hole
in it — but years ago it was one of the most
famous newspaper features in the east.

"Through the Herald's Sieve" first dawned
upon the readers of the Herald about 1896. It
was begun by one Joseph Dillabough, and the
strain was too much for him as he lasted two
weeks. Murray Williams heard the clarion call
for help, got out his trusty scissors and glue pot,
and lasted ten years. The Sieve, although fea-
tured by the Herald with a double column
heading on the front page, failed to attract
any attention until the elections of the year
1896, when Sir Wilfrid Laurier downed Sir
Charles Tupper. Day after day during the
campaign, every paragraph in the Sieve was
devoted to politics, and one of the features
of the column was a daily parody on Sir Charles
Tupper 's speeches. Sir Charles was great on
claims in those days, claims of what he had
achieved and what he would do to Laurier.
The Sieve said that he, Tupper, had told the
people of the Maritime Provinces that he was
the man who had originally fixed things so
that the Atlantic Ocean would touch at Hali-
fax.

In the early days, of the Sieve the Canadian
newspapers were strong on serious matter, and
for a time the Sieve was the only out-standing
humorous column in the country. Certainly for
a time it kept the none-too-prosperous Herald
on the map. All the matter in the Sieve was
not original. Its maker never denied that the
glue pot and scissors were among his most valu-

April, 1919.

CANADIAN BOOK 1/ IV

able assets. Hi- claimed that, us he was Finan-
cial Editor, Commercial Editor and Baseball
Editor of the Herald, the time at his disposal
to knock the Sieve together was somewhat limit-
ed.

-"I used to lift a good deal of stuff from
the Chicago News," said Mr. Williams the other
day, "and one day somebody on one of the
other papers handed me a l.r>-ineh shell right in
the eye. The association of humorous writers
was holding its annual convention somewhere
or other and, picking up an opposition paper, I
read a paragraph that ran like this: 'Tf the
author of the Herald's Sieve goes to the con-
vention, he will have to get in on a Chicago
•News ticket.' After that the glue pot and
scissors went out of the window."

Mr. Williams commenced his newspaper
career at the bottom of the journalistic ladder.
His energy and ability soon forced recognition,
and he gradually rose until he was the finan-
cial editor. There his farsightedness and his
unerring judgment made him a factor in the
market, and he was snapped up by the Montreal
Star, where he remained for several years, until
he joined the broker fraternity in the firm of
O'Brien and Williams.

There are various ways of turning out a
column, including the scissors and paste me

thod which has I n adopted by the majority

of papers in Canada, There is one method
which is not generally known, and I wish to cite
it here for the benefit of any weary paragraph-
ers who may chance to read this.

Mr. Marcel Bernard is the inventor of this
method. He once edited a column of paragraphs
for Le Nationaliste in the days of long ago —
long before Henri Bourassa's Nationaliste was
thought of. Mr. Bernard explained this easy
system of columning to me the other day.

' ' I used to invite a bunch of my friends up
to my rooms the evening before the column
was due," he said. "Then I started a discus-
sion on some interesting topic and every man
was supposed to contribute a few bright re-
marks upon the subject. All I had to do was
to sit back and pot down anything that seemed
good enough for the column. I generally had
a couple of dozen of beer, and the thing was a
complete success. We had an enjoyable little
gathering — and I had my column."

It sounds like a good idea, but there is one
thing in the way of its present application.

Could sufficiently bright remarks be secured
by serving two-per-cent ?

A Canadian Spring Song

By ESTHER WILSON KERRY

WHAT do I miss in this English spring,
This tenderest, loveliest time,
When just to live's a miracle,
A song in sweetest rhyme?
Gone is the biting winter's grey
Swept away in a night;
Radiantly, softly spring creeps forth
Pale and green and bright.

What do I miss though the crocus bloom

And daffodils golden shine,

While budding leaves on lacy boughs

Seek the blue sky divine;

The copper beech gleams dusky red,

The grass is emerald foam? —

The sound of the waters flowing free

Down a hundred hills of home.

Murmuring, trickling, heavenly sweet,
The hidden streamlets run ;
Or dashing down a hill-side brown
Their waters mock the sun.

The great still pools hold in their depths
The spring blue of the sky,
And gurgling, bubbling, sparkling gay,
Fresh streamlets hurry by.

What do I miss? To walk through the trees,

On mountain slopes, and hear

Mid fresh damp smell of earth and buds

The waters singing clear;

Or catch their sound when twilight soft

The woodland spaces fills,

That low ecstatic melody

Of countless running rills.

No sweet-voiced thrush, nor trilling lark
Comes ushering in our spring;
But God gave us a music too,
A wondrous, joyous thing;
And when the winter vanishes
Spring's never spring to me,
Unless I hear down all the hills
The waters tumbling free.

< '. 1 NADIAN BOOKMAN

April, 1919.

Reading Aloud in the Family

MORE than a generation ago the family
circle was a recognized factor in social
life. Publishers and entertainers
bowed to its mandates. Later, ready
money, cheap amusements, and the growth
of special clubs and so-
cieties, threatened it. It
is a happy sign, to-day,
to see young and old
drawing together again
within its enclosure ; to
see art, music, sports,
rare evenings at the
theatre enjoyed by fam-
ily groups without osten-
tation or undue indulg-
ence. Often all that is
asked is but "the hya-
cinth that feeds the soul.
Of all entertainment
which old and young
may enjoy together,
reading aloud is easily
first. It is cheap and
satisfying and much may
be gained from it.

Those parents who feel
that the young people in
their care are drifting,
that the ideals they had
always meant the grow-
ing son and daughter to
hold dear have not been
so cherished, will do well
to copy the habits of fifty
years ago, when a good
book was a treasure to be
enjoyed and discussed
for many a day by the
family who possessed
it, and then exchanged
with eager friends.

Let us read aloud with
the children whatever we
value and feel will inter-
est them, but never what
offends our literary con-
science. However harm-
less it may be considered,
cheap, exciting, easily
forgotten fiction, wheth-
er written for young or
old, defeats the purpose of family reading.

We may bring out the old books that were
once our delight. When the child of twelve
or so once knows Friar Tuck and Robin Hood,
Richard Lionheart and Saladin, though we
may tire of the old romances, he will read on
and devour them. Tom Canty and the little
Prince, Tom Sawyer and faithful Huck,
Don Quixote, Tom Brown, and the man who
denied his country and became a prisoner on
the seas, will be his friends as well as ours. The

WHY BOBBIE TEASES
THE KITTEN.

T midnight when all the skeptics and

grown-up (oiks were safely in bed,

there was a faint rustling heard down

in the library. No human ear would have

heard It, had there been one there to listen;

only fairy ears could catch the sounds.

The little fairies of book-land had not
been able to do any work for a long time
past; In fact, if the terrible truth must be
known they had been imprisoned for months
in a dingy prison, the library book-case.
When night came as they had not done any
work they were very restless and could not
sleep, so they spent the time talking of
days gone by.

"Anderson's Fairy Tales" draw in a deep
breath, that made every leaf in its body
strain and shiver. Then he turned to his
neighbor, "Robinson Crusoe," and said: "Did
you see how Bobbie and Ethel looked long-
ingly at us to-night, after their dinner?"

"Yes," said the other; "I heard them
planning to ask their mother to read to
them to-night before they went to bed; but
she said that she was too tired."

"I saw something shining roll down Bob-
bie's cheeks afterwards," said "Anderson's
Fairy' Tales."

"Do you remember," went on the other,
"how in the olden days we used to be select-
ed turn about every night for the hour be-
tween dinner and the children's bed-hour?
Then Bobbie's grandmother would gather
the children round her and read aloud to
them, while they sat in breathless silence
listening to all our wonderful adventures;
and we never could determine which was
the favorite."

"Yes," said "Anderson's Fairy Tales," "if
Bobbie and Ethel had someone to read to
them in the evening they would sit quietly
and listen, instead of quarreling and teasing
that helpless little kitten of theirs. But
what is the good of us sitting here planning
these things when for months we have
been so sadly neglected in company with our
comrades."

Ruby M. Bruneau.

copy of "Lorna Doone" once read aloud will be
re-read many times, and David Copperfield,
Oliver Twist and Little Nell will live forever.
We once listened to "Snow-bound" and
"Evangeline" with delight, and so will he. The
"Jungle Books" and
"Uncle Remus" will
mean far more if we
read with him. English
History, or rather its
most dramatic events,
will be permanently
photographed on the chil-
dren's retentive minds,
once they have read with
us that little "History
of England", prepared
by Rudyard Kipling and
Professor Fletcher, es-
pecially if "Rewards and
Fairies" has been added
for good measure. Fran-
cis Parkman and Dr.
Drummond, Ralph Con-
nor, Sir Gilbert Parker
and Norman Duncan
have many a message for
young Canada.

Soon the children will
bring into the circle that
which appeals to them. It
is safe to say that their
understanding and good
taste will amaze us.

Not only imaginative
literature will claim their
attention. They will be
brimful of admiration for
the heroic figures of
their time. They will ex-
plore the work of nat-
uralists with zeal. Long
after fairy stories have
been left behind, they
will rapturously follow
the miracles of men of
science.

Schools teach literary
values, but the differ-
ence between a work of
literature in the school-
room and the same book
read and loved by the whole family is as the
difference between calisthenics and a good
game of ball.

A boy of ten once memorized the Gettys-
burg Address for his own satisfaction after
hearing "The Perfect Tribute." A child who
had not learned to read, repeated from mem-
ory, pages of the "Christmas Carol." Had
such things been required of them as school
tasks how vigorous would have been their just
resentment! Nina Pearce.

April. 1919.

VANADIA \ BOOE I/.IA

Play- Writing in Canada

By HARCOURT KARMKR

IN discussing Play-writing in Canada, one
is tempted to remark that the subject
can be disposed of simply and swiftly —
there is no playwriting in Canada. But this
would be a cheap and obvious thing to say;
moreover it would be unfair. And it would
be too close a critical reflection on our in-
dividual selves. The machine can only func-
tion when each part acts in co-operative ac-
cordance.

Because there does not already exist a
powerful growing movement in Canadian
dramaturgy is no reason that such a thing
cannot exist. We must not discourage our-
selves (or other drama-producing countries)
by admitting that since native drama, to all
intents and purposes, non est, such a deplor-
able condition must perpetually prevail. Lit-
erary and actable plays will be written in
Canada when there is a demand for them;
not before.

Music and painting, poetry and general
literature, all occupy places of definite social
permanence and artistic importance here.
They are recognized as necessary vital fac-
tors in the country's development. As such,
these branches of expression are receiving
earnest attention, expert and otherwise, from
men and women who really have the national
welfare at heart. There are Canadian com-
posers and interpreters, Canadian painters
and sculptors, Canadian poets and Canadian
authors. Where are the Canadian play-
wrights?

By "Canadian playwrights" I don't mean
persons of Canadian descent, who, migrating
to New York or London, have written popu-
lar successes. Any competent literary work-
man can do this, irrespective of nationality.
The result is simply a commercial product,
not in the least fashion typical of the author's
own country. I mean persons of Canadian
descent, or adoption, who have written plays
the subject-matter of which deals with some
intrinsic part of Canadian life, past or pres-
ent ; and whose plays are directly artistic
representations of Canadian life, or interpre-
tations of Canadian temperament.

I am the first one to admit that this is a
rough and ready way of arriving at a work-
ing definition. But, for the nonce, it can
serve.

In discussing some points regarding plays
in general and Canada in particular with an
eminent Montreal merchant. I heard him give
vent to this: that the boundary-line between
Canada and the United States is. for all ar-
tistic purposes, a thing of fancy; it doesn't
exist. All American art appeals to Canadian

people, ipso facto, and there's an end on't.
Pressed, tl minenl merchanl admitted thai

Toronto has produced some native musicians
to whom musical America paid instant hom-
age; admitted, too, that certain Canadian
painters were more highly regarded in Bos-
ton than certain nameless American artists;
and finally, conceded, but without enthusiasm.
that Canada was a young country and politi-
cal comparisons were in bail taste.

The man was speaking relatively, of course,
but the unfortunate part of it is this: his
opinions are shared by more Canadians than
I would care to attempt to estimate. His at-
titude is excusable. He doesn't know any
better. But that is no reason why others
should accept his conclusions as final and
binding.

As a matter of accuracy, the boundary-line
between Canadian art and American art is
very clear and very well defined. But it is
not as inelastic as (for instanca) the line
drawn sharply between New York art and
Chicago art. There are boundaries all over
the place. That's the trouble.

Playwrights and dramatists do exist in
Canada, to my knowledge, because I have
personally met all of them — the whole three.
There may be others lurking in the fastnesses
of Granby. or cunningly aloof in the social
whirl of North Bay. disguised as citizens. If
this writing will bring them out into the open,
it will have served its purpose.

In a fairly close (and eager) examination
of the work of these three Canadian play-
wrights. I failed to find any trace of the
spirit which, to my mind, should inform such
work — the spirit I have sought to define
above; national interpretation in terms of in-
dividual expression through drama. Their
plays dealt with (a) obsolete and unpractical
morality; (b) Wall Street machinations; and
(c) a touching effort to dramatize the Monroe
Doctrine. In the plays of (a) the locales were
variously London. Paris, Xew York, and
Lisbon ; the characters, as can readily be
imagined, ran the racial gamut ; and the result
was pathetically nondescript. In the plays of
(b) the scenes alternated between Chicago, New
York. Pittsburg and Cuba : the characters were
exclusively American. (Imagine an American
writing a play about Canadians!) In the plays
of (c) the action transpired in San Francisco
and Xew York, to and fro for five acts; the
characters were British, American, German
and one Irishman.

These three dramatic plumbers are well-
known and enjoy pleasant reputations. They

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

April, 1919.

may or may not be clever dramatists; that is
beside the point, and, with a sense of happy
relief, I leave such decisions to others. The
point is, that in a total of some twenty plays,
the product of these writers, all of them Can-
adians, appears not one play that can be ac-
curately and reasonably described as a Can-
adian play.

There is an obvious line of demarcation be-
tween the dramatist and the historian. It is
necessary to recall this fact (I apologise) be-
cause there are several Canadians who have
written some very interesting historical chron-
icles ; but, in the compositions of this character
that I have been enabled to glance at, 'there
has been a sorry absence of dramatic tech-
nique. So that, for the purposes of present
discussion, we may consider that we have two
groups of Canadian playwrights: the people
who are versed in Canadian history and un-
skilled in dramatic construction, and the peo-
ple who are expert playwrights while being
ignorant of Canadian history. The class to
which Canadian Letters must look for the
provision and development of the true Can-
adian drama will have to be composed of the
blended best of the other classes.

In justice to the two classes let it be urged
that their unsatisfying production has been
induced from within rather than from with-
out. They have not put forth a Canadian
play, because they had no motive for doing
so. There is no Canadian theatre, in the
sense that there is an Irish theatre and a Rus-
sian theatre and a Swedish theatre. Our
playwrights can hardly be blamed for unwill-
ingness to write under such disheartening con-
ditions. Practically speaking, there is no de-
mand for Canadian plays, accordingly there
is no supply. Yet this will not always be so.
In its early days the Irish theatre indicated
a similar barrenness and apathy; but it was
only the prelude to bigger themes to follow.
The Irish playwrights have built their drama
out of Ireland and the Irish ; and in the pro-
cess have indicated with remarkable success
the possibilities that lie in the creation of
native plays.

Canada teems with workable material for
a1 hundred good plays; there are great figures
of the past; there is the fascinating epoch
when Champlain and Beauchasse and Pont-
grave held the stage; there is the lyrical story
of Jeanne Mance ; there is the magnificent
figure of the Indian — who will be the first
to tell in terms of drama his romantic his-
tory? Longfellow has given us a hint in
"Hiawatha," and it seems curious that no

Canadian has had the enterprise to write the
tragedy of the Indian for the stage.

In drawing attention to the wealth of sub-
ject-matter to be found in the Annals, I do not
wish to be classed with those who hold that
native plays must inevitably be based upon
historical events. There are great clashes
and conflicts in our own day, which, in due
course, will find their way into dramatic
form. But objectivity is necessary. I think
we have sufficient detachment to write artis-
tically and sanely about the happenings of
yesterday; but the great war is too near to
us. Its splendors and pathos concern us pre-
sently as men and women, not as dramatists.
Still, it is the hope of many that, with the
passing of time, a play will come out of Can-
ada that will make the world of letters mar-
vel.

It is encouraging to note the increasing in-
terest shown in the drama of other countries
by leading Canadian art and literary societies,
especially in Montreal, Toronto, "Winnipeg
and Vancouver. Papers are read, lectures
are given, discussions held, and the conse-
quence is a lively sincere effort to bring the
drama into line with the sister arts. Mem-
bers of these societies know more about the
modern drama to-day than they did a decade
ago; and they appear to be putting their
knowledge to practical use. In this there is
not merely unit development ; there is that
necessary vital impetus which the drama must
have if it is ever to occupy its proper place
here. Men and women (particularly the
women) are discovering that there is room
in the home for a shelf of plays; and room on
the platform for a speaker on the drama. And,
in this connection, may it be mildly suggested
that it is not wholly necessary to depend on
New York and Boston for advice in the con-
structional development of the drama in
Canada. Occasional expert help we must
have. But let it be complementary to our *
own work.

It is one thing to discuss plays and play-
writing and another thing to write plays and
stage them. The formation of Stage Socie-
ties in the chief cities of the Dominion (there
is already one in Montreal) would serve as a
useful and practical extension of the work
being done amongst the purely literary so-
cieties. A co-operation between the two
branches would work wonders, provided
there was a ready agreement that all those
cnncerned would work toward the common
objective — our own plays in our own thea-
tres.

April, 1919.

CANADIAN BOOKM I \

Wild Youth and Another"

SI K GILBERT I'AKKKK still possesses
in abundant measure, the dexterity of
the accomplished professional story-tell-
er. The two tales in his latest volume, "Wild
Youth and Another" (Copp, Clark Co., Toron-
to, $1.50), arc entirely devoid of any special
source of interest except the admirable skill of
their telling. "Wild Youth" (the "rather
puzzling title of the book merely indicates that
its contents consist of one tale entitled "Wild
Youth" and another tale called something else)
is a sketch of a young girl married against her
will to a hideous and brutal old reprobate with
prophetic whiskers who owns a Saskatchewan
fa mi ; the action is precipitated by the usual
handsome and courageous young man, and the

ih> tin is- ill' our younger Canadian novelists, sim
ply because Sir Gilbert knows how to handle
the situations in which he exhibits them, be-
cause he always has something definite for them

to do, because he knows what the reader will
"see" and what he will not see in brief, be-
cause he is an accomplished story-teller. Note
how "Wild Youth" is opened. One paragraph
sketching one characteristic of the town of As-
katoon (and incidentally hinting at many
others) — its alertness and interest in everything
that comes into it. And then, instantly, tin-
train draws in and a shiver passes through the
town when "the prophet-bearded, huge, swarthy-
Eaced Joel Mazarine, with a beautiful young
girl behind him" steps out. And forthwith

THE PROPHET-BEARDED JOEL MAZARINE, WITH A BEAUTIFUL YOUNG GIRL BEHIND HIM,
STEPPED FROM THE WEST-BOUND TRAIN

reprobate dies with the usual speed in order to
prevent any unusual impropriety. "Jordan is
a Hard Road" is the tale of a train-robber who
settles down to an honest but pseudonymous life
in order to be near his daughter, who is in the
usual state of misinformation concerning her
parentage ; he is compelled by the usual adverse
circumstances to resume train-robbing in order
to ensure his daughter's future, and he also is
prevented by death from being present at the
happy ending and embarrassing the loving pair
(or at any rate the reader) with the fear of de-
tection. People never die so conveniently in
real life as in a Gilbert Parker tale.

Nor are any of the characters in these sketchy
little tales a bit more life-like or impressive
than the average character of pleasant out-door
fiction. They are figures done up iu the trap-
pings of convention : but they move with far
more ease and effect in those trappings than

the situation between these two ill-assorted peo-
ple is sketched briefly and vividly, not in the
author's own person (Sir Gilbert knows tin-
value of keeping himself out of such pictures),
but through the mental comments of Askatoon's
young doctor, its leading intellectual citizen.
A compliment from one of the Askatoon citi-
zens, an acquaintance of Mazarine's, to Mrs.
Mazarine, and Mazarine's jealousy is in evi-
dence— the hideous jealousy of the old man pos-
sessing something which" he feels every other man
covets, and might claim with better right than
himself. And so, in less than four pages, the
whole foundation of the story is sketched in,
and the interest of the reader is nailed to the
mast, not to come down till all is over. Would
that our present generation of Canadian novel-
ists would study this art. would cultivate this
flair for the telling act, the significant move-
ment.

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

April, 1919.

Books About the Forest

By J. N. STEPHENSON

THE forest is closely associated with the
pulp and paper industry, especially in
Canada. The output of these mills is
simply enormous, as will be seen from
the fact that the exports of pulp, paper, and
unmanufactured pulpwood during the year to-
tal more than $100,000,000. Besides this, large
and increasing quantities are used in the Do-
minion.

Notwithstanding the importance of the pa-
per industry in America — Canada and the
United States produce nearly two million tons
of newsprint paper alone — the literature of
the industry from authors on this side of the
Atlantic is very meagre. Most of our books
on pulp and paper manufacture are from Eng-
land and Germany, and naturally set forth the
practice and viewpoint of the European. The
reason for this is largely the attention to re-
search and technical detail that has been given
in the laboratories and mills on the other side.
Manufacturers on this side have relied too
much on the wealth of our natural resources
and on the distance from competing manufac-
turing centres to give proper attention to such
matters as research and scientific control.
There were, of course, exceptions and now,
happily, we are entering an era when a care-
ful study of processes is being carried on in
many mills, and with this movement there is
also growing up a corps of men who can write
in an authoritative and up-to-date manner from
the American (in its larger sense) point of
view .

The forester and the timber user are better
provided with the literature of their business.
All the way from the woods to house construc-
tion and furniture factory, is a string of books
that set forth experience and knowledge on a
subject relating to the tree and its uses. The
biologist and the forester are powerful allies
of the lumberman and paper maker, and
manufacturers are coming to realize their im-
portance. Present studies in the forests of
Quebec are likely to result in some important
articles on fundamental facts regarding our
forest resources, especially on the rate of re-
production on cut-over areas.

Organizations like the Canadian Forestry
Association and the Woodlands Section and
the Technical Section of the Canadian Pulp
and Paper Association, through the papers
and discussions at meetings, are beginning to
draw out some of our latent talent, as well
as serving to keep older writers in working
trim. The Forestry Branch of the Department
of the Interior has issued a number of bulle-
tins, both as compilations made at the office
in Ottawa and as a result of investigations

carried on at the Forest Products Laboratories
in Montreal. The Commission of Conservation
is also doing valuable field work in co-opera-
tion with some industrial concerns. Among
the publications of the Department of the In-
terior mention might be made of the follow-
ing Forestry Branch Bulletins : —

"Douglas Fir Fibre, With Special Reference
to Length," by H. N. Lee and E. M. Smith.
(reprinted from the Forestry Quarterly, and
later published in the Pulp and Paper Maga-
zine), is a fine piece of work in microscopic
measurements, illustrated by charts and dia-
grams.

No. 59, "Canadian Woods for Structural
Timbers," prepared by H. N. Lee under the
direction of Dr. J. S. Bates, at the Forest Pro-
ducts Laboratories, is a comprehensive re-
view of the adaptability of various Canadian
species to the important uses of shipbuilding,
railway trestles, dock construction, factory
and other buildings. A number of interesting
pictures are shown, among which is a Douglas
fir timber 46 by 46 inches by 70 feet, for use
in Montreal harbor work. The principal char-
acteristics and properties of several species are
given, and from this information is deduced
the fitness of the wood for certain purposes.
The bulletin will serve to correct the erroneous
impression that Canadian timber is inferior to
that brought in from the United States.

No. 60. "Canadian Douglas Fir, Its Mechani-
cal and Physical Properties," prepared by R.
W. Stearns under the direction of Dr. J. S.
Bates. This bulletin gives a more exhaustive
treatment of the properties of this particular
wood, with details of testing methods, etc. A
bibliography of other works on the subject is
appended.

No. 62A, "Forest Products of Canada, 1916
— Lumber, Lath and Shingles." Tables and
explanatory paragraphs give the consumption
of these products by provinces and species, ac-
cording to quantitv and value for 1915 and
1916.

No. 62B, "Forest Products of Canada, 1916
— Pulpwood." This bulletin is similar to the
preceding one. In addition to the tables there
are several maps showing the location of mills
using pulpwood.

No. 63, "Wood-using Industries of Quebec,"
compiled by R. G. Lewis and J. A. Doucet.
This bulletin is issued in both French and
English. It is based on data from 864 firms,
and one is surprised at the number and variety
of the articles produced.. The value of the
wood used is more than $12,000,000. About 15
per cent, is bought outside of the province, and
of this, 36 per cent, comes from the United

April, 1919.

C i.\ l/'/.l.v BOOKMAN

States. Tables show the principal uses of 17
kinds of wood, ami this information should be
of value in promoting the utilization of the

large amounts of hardwoods left in the forest
when coniferous trees are brought out from
mixed stands.

No. 64, "Forest Fires in Canada. 1914, 1915,
1016." Tables and charts show areas burned
over, monetary losses and the relation of rain-
fall and temperature to the extent of fires. In-
formation is also given as to forest areas, or-
ganization for fire protection, etc.

"Report of the Director of Forestry for the
year 1017" (Part VT. of the Annual Report,
Department of the Interior, 1917). In sub-
mitting his report, B. II. Campbell mentions
that sixty-five members of the staffs have en-
listed, and nine have given their lives. This
depletion of forces has prevented extention of
the work. The disastrous fire in Ontario in
1916 was largely due to lack of control in al-
lowing settlers to start fires. Few people
realize the dependence of Canadian industries
on the forests, yet "ignorance, lack of defin-
ite information, opinions rather than know-
ledge of facts have characterized, and still to
a large extent continue to characterize, the
methods of handling the forest resources of
the Dominion to their detriment and loss."
Mr. Campbell tells what his department is do-
in? to improve forest conditions and the know-
ledge thereof, to utilize this resource most ef-
ficiently and to insure its perpetuation. There
are some fine illustrations.

"Pulpwood Consumption and Wood Pulp
Production, 1916." by Franklin H. Smith and
R. K. Helphenstine, Jr., has been published by
the Forest Service of the U. S. Department of
Agriculture in co-operation with the News-
print Manufacturers' Association. Such a
bulletin has not been issued since 1911, al-
though Canada publishes this information each
year. Charts, diagrams, tables and descrip-
tions cover the subject thoroughly. In 1916,
230 mills used 51/; million cords of pulpwood,
producing 3% million tons of pulp.

Mr. R. H. Campbell, Director of the Forestry
Branch, recently suffered a fractured skull
while investigating forestry conditions in
Northern Manitoba. Mr. Campbell gave an
interesting address at the meeting of the Tech-
nical Section of the Canadian Pulp and Paper
Association last winter on the outlook for the
future supply of pulpwood in Canada. He
enumerated the present estimated amounts of
the various kinds of trees in the different pro-
vinces, and stated the annual consumption and
the approximate rate of reproduction as near-
ly as possible as could be estimated. This ad-
dress was printed in the Pulp and Paper
Magazine for March 21, 1918. Canada's for-
ests are not inexhaustible, as some people seem
to think.

Of interest to every Canadian is Bulletin 61,
of the Forestry Branch, entitled "Native Trees
of Canada." In this valuable work Mr. Camp-
bell has collected information as to the locali-

ties in which each species grows, and the in

dividual characteristics of each kind of tree.

Mr. Campbell goes on to give the uses for the
different kinds of wood, and even mentions
some new possibilities in the way of utilizing

this material. Trees are referred to by their
common names as well as hy their biological
appendages, Many illustrations show individ-
ual trees, the shape of leases, seed pods, etc ,

while in tabulated form one can quickly re-
view and compare the principal features by
which a tree may be distinguished. An in-
stance of the usefulness of the book occurred
while the writer was attending a meeting of
the Technical Section in Toronto last June.
Two of the visitors from New York were dis-
cussing chestnut blight and one remarked that
it was too bad to have all the beautiful horse
chestnuts threatened. The other precipitated
an argument by expressing the idea that the
horse chestnut is not a real chestnut. A refer-
ence to Mr. Campbell's book settled the dis-
pute. New Yorker number two was right, and
furthermore, the horse chestnut is not a tree
native to Canada.

A booklet that was popular during the per-
iod of the shortage of coal is the monograph
put out by the Commission of Conservation on
"Wood as Fuel." It is written by Mr. Clyde
Leavitt, Chief Forester to the Commission, and
deals with the subject in a popular yet com-
prehensive manner. Mr. Leavitt not only
shows the necessity for making the greatest
possible use of wood for heating purposes, giv-
ing comparative values for weight, bulk and
heating power, but also points out some of the
difficulties in the way of obtaining and trans-
porting this material.

Canada is fairly well provided with periodi-
cal literature on Forestry and kindred sub-
jects, with the Canadian Forestry Journal,
Canada Lumberman, Western Lumberman,
and occasional articles in the Pulp and Paper
Magazine that apply to this industry. From
our neighbors we get American Forestry, a
very superior publication, the Journal of For-
estry and a number of lumber trade journals.
When the Lord said to St. John "Write,"
the summons could hardly have been more ur-
gent than that which comes to the technical
man in the pulp and paper industry. There
has probably never been a time when the de-
mand has been greater for books, articles and
special information relating to the manufac-
ture of these materials. This is partly the
cause and partly the result of the awakened
appreciation of the value of research referred
to at the beginning of this article. Another
call for books comes from the manufacturers
who realize the need of better educated and
more intelligent workmen, and from workmen
who appreciate the greater chances for ad-
vancement for men with trained intelligence
as well as skillful hands. How to meet this
demand for literature is a difficult problem,
yet it is being attacked vigorously by the pulp
and paper industry.

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

April, 1919-

The Technical Section of the Canadian Pulp
and Paper Association and the Technical As-
sociation of the Pulp and Paper Industry
(U.S.), have each a committee on Education.
More than a year ago the Canadian committee
came to the conclusion that a suitable text
hook is the foundation for the efficient instruc-
tion of mill workers and school boys who plan
to enter the industry. After a careful investi-
gation of the situation it was decided that both
countries should act together in this matter,
as it is not so much a problem for two coun-
tries as for one industry. There is really no
dividing line among the workmen nor in many
cases even among the mill managements. The
fundamental need is a standard text book of
Pulp and Paper Mill Practice for the whole
continent.

A joint meeting of the two committees was
consequently held in Buffalo on the 16th of
September, and was attended by every one of
the two committees exeept one American, who
was on important war work. The discussion
disclosed two main divisions of the problem,
the preparation of the text, and the manner
in which instruction and direction in the use
of the books can best be effected. An execu-
tive committee of five, two Canadians and
three Americans, was formed to carry out the
plans roughly outlined by the meeting. Mr.
George Carruthers, of Toronto, is chairman,
and Mr. R. S. Kellogg, of New York is secre-
tary. It is expected that the industry will
encourage the work with generous financial
support.

This committee will first select an Editor-in-
Chief, who may also act as educational direc-
tor. With ' the advice and assistance of the
executive committee and the bodies they rep-
resent, he will arrange with experts in each
branch and department of the manufacture
of pulp and paper for the writing of the vari-
ous chapters that will make up the complete
text. The fullest advantage will be taken of
material that has already been published. It
is considered probable that the work will be
published in the form of pamphlets. This will
facilitate the development of classes in exten-
sion and night schools, and the organization
of correspondence courses in the science and
technique of pulp and paper manufacture.
There are already in existence a number of
suitable texts on elementary but fundamental
subjects, which it might be possible to incor-
porate in order to build up a course represent-
ing a practically complete technical education
in this line. These would include business
English, mathematics, chemistry, mechanical
drawing, mechanics and elements of electric-
ity. The provision for, or organization of, cor-
respondence instruction will doubtless develop
as the preparation of the material progresses.

The main education committees are also
working with local school authorities in improv-
ing facilities for continuation classes and in con-
necting the school work with the pulp and pa-
per industry in communities where that activ-

ity predominates. Some success has already
been attained in organizing classes in the ele-
mentary subjects that are familiar to most
school programmes. The difficulty arises when
the student wants to keep on going and there
is no chart by which to guide his further pro-
gress. The number of such cases that have al-
ready arisen makes evident the need of just
such a set of texts as that for the preparation
of which the technical men have laid plans. It
is a big undertaking and will require consider-
able time to complete, but it will be of incal-
culable value to the industry, and to the men
engaged in it.

As usual most of the recent books relating
to paper have come from England. The Eng-
lishmen are strong on research in the field of
cellulose chemistry and the processes involved
in the manufacture of paper. England is prac-
tically devoid of forests from wtiich wood for
pulp is obtained. Consequently we find little
in British publications on the manufacture of
pulp. The paper mills of Great Britain get
their pulp from Scandinavia, Germany (for-
merly), Newfoundland, Canada, and the
United States. The industry lost a tireless
worker and noted investigator when Mr. Clay-
ton Beadle died a few months ago. He had
contributed largely to the knowledge of cel-
lulose and its products, and the manufacture
of paper by his fine research work and fre-
quent articles in the periodicals of the paper
trade. Mr. Beadle was a co-author with C. F.
Cross and E. J. Bevan in the preparation of
the most comprehensive work in English on
the chemistry and properties of cellulose, the
fundamental material used in the manufac-
ture of paper. This book is entitled "Cellu-
lose," and was reprinted as a new (third) edi-
tion in 1916 by Longmans, Green & Co., Lon-
don. It is an excellent book for the researcher
in this field, and for the student or other per-
son interested in the properties of this impor-
tant substance. For the most part the subject
is treated from a purely scientific standpoint,
though a number of important industrial ap-
plications are introduced. These have particu-
larly to do with compounds of cellulose, such
as viscose, the nitrates, etc. F'or a scientific
book it is written in a rather disconnected
manner, but contains much valuable informa-
tion.

Two of the writers just mentioned, Charles
Frederick Cross and Edward John Bevan, are
perhaps the best known of a really wonderful
group of investigators in this field. Their work
goes back to 1890 or so, and one who has col-
laborated in a little research work must ad-
mire the way these two have labored together
for a quarter of a century or more, surely a
most delightful companionship. Cross and
Bevan 's "Paper-Making," has come to be con-
sidered the standard English textbook on this
subject. The fourth edition was issued in
1916 by E. & F. N. Spon, Limited, London
(Spon & Chamberlain, New York.) In this

April, 1919.

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

edition they had the collaboration of J. K
Brings, a well known practical paper maker.
The reviewer had the opportunity of using
the third edition in his classes in paper-mak-
ing, and found it excellent. It served not only
as a satisfactory guide for lectures and recita-
tions, but for laboratory work in paper manu-
facture and testing:, and was used by the stu-
dents in their laboratory course in the Chemis-
try of Cellulose. In connection with this course
"Cellulose" was also found very helpful.
"Paper-Making" contains nothing on the his-
tory of the art, but this is easily supplied from
other sources. The book is divided into three
main parts, the chemistry and characteristics
of cellulose and the more important fibres, the
processes and machines for making paper,
and the testing of paper and analysis of the
materials used in its manufacture.

Among the same group of investigators and
authors, we also find Sindall, Bacon and Ste-
vens. Sindall and Bacon are partners in con-
sulting work as well as in a number of liter-
ary efforts. Sindall has two books from his
pen alone. "The Manufacture of Paper," is a
popular description of the way paper is made.
It gives some interesting facts about the vari-
ous kinds of paper, and tells what they are
used for. His other book on the subject is
"Technology of Papermaking, " which, as its
name implies, is a more technical treatment.
It contains a particularly good section on pa-
per testing, and would be a valuable help to
the advanced student, or for the practical pa-
permaker who is interested in the scientific
reasons for mill processes. The principal joint
work of Sindall and Bacon is their "Testing of
Wood Pulp," which has enjoyed a wide dis-
tribution. It serves as a guide both to the
seller of pulp and to the buyer. The test most
frequently applied is the determination of
moisture, and this is a very important one, be-
cause on the result depends the satisfaction of
the buyer that he is getting all the actual pa-
permaking material he pays for, as well as the
knowledge on the part of the seller that he is
getting a proper return for his goods. This
question has led to many serious disputes be-
cause of the ease with which inaccuracies may
occur. In spite of the importance of the test
for moisture, and although Sindall and Bacon
give a number of methods for making this de-
termination, there is as yet no universally ac-
cepted procedure. The nearest to it is the me-
thod agreed on by the Pulp Importers' Asso-
ciation, New York, and provisionally adopted
by the Technical Association of the Pulp and
Paper Industry. It was published in Paper
(New York), and in the Pulp and Paper
Magazine of Canada last fall.

Stevens has written a very successful book
entitled "Paper Mill Chemistry." It is just
now out of print, but a new edition is in the
press. This book goes more into the details
of the chemical properties and methods of an-

alysis of materials used in paper making than

the other hooks mentioned. Ft also contains
methods for the several routine analyses used
in the control of processes, especially in pulp
mills. The need of such a book is evident when
one considers the number and variety of ma-
terials involved in the manufacturing of a
product that has come to be a very common
part of our daily life. Among these we might
mention coal, lime, sulphur, soda ash, bleach-
ing powder, alum, acids, oils, glue, clay, and
numerous dyestuffs and many other chemical
products, not to say anything of the many
tests necessary in the proper control of pro-
cesses in the mill.

There is probably no industry whose history
is more closely connected with the progress
of the race than is the story of papermaking.
Yet no single comprehensive book on the sub-
ject has been written. Interesting chapters,
however, appear in Miss E. M. Smith's "Writ-
ing and Writing Materials," and in Davis's
"Manufacture of Paper." The Butler Paper
Company of Chicago recently published a very
entertaining little book entitled "The Story
of Papermaking," which is mostly historical.
But little is given of the period of the early
European paper mills. This era is covered
by J. N. Stephenson, who included transla-
tions from German sources in an article, "Four
Thousand Years of Papermaking," contribut-
ed to Paper, New York, a few years ago. He
gathered together the most important and in-
teresting facts and stories of the industry
from the Stone Age to the invention in France
by Robert, in 1699, of the first machine for
making a continuous sheet of paper. This
event marks the beginning of modern paper-
making.

A few years before the invention of Rob-
ert's machine, which was developed by Fourd-
rinier, and is now known by that name, the
first paper mill was built in America. It was
established in Pennsylvania in 1690, on the
banks of the Wissahickon, to supply paper for
a publisher in Philadelphia. Those interested
in the enterprise were William Bradford, the
moving spirit, Robert Turner, Thomas Tresse,
and William Rittenhouse, an enterprising Ger-
man papermaker. At this time there were very
few mills in England, where the industry had
progressed with great difficulty and uncer-
tainty. On the other hand, the small mill near
Philadelphia was but the beginning of an in-
dustry in America that has never lagged since
that day, but has steadily grown until now it
is one of the largest and most important in
Canada as well as in the United States. Ly-
man Horace Weeks relates the story of the
American mills delightfully in his "History of
Paper Manufacturing in the United States." It
is a book of more than three hundred pages,
and is well supplied with interesting illustra-
tions. It is published by The Lockwood Trade
Journal Company, New York.

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

April, 1919.

Nothing is said by Mr. Weeks of the industry
in Canada. According to A. L. Dawe, in a
pamphlet entitled "Some Facts About a Great
Industry." published by the Canadian Pulp
and Paper Association, the first mill in Can-
ada was started at St. Andrews, Quebec, in
1803. Now, scarcely more than a century
later, there are more than one hundred pulp
and paper mills, in fact, almost exactly one

mill for each year since the first paper mill
was built. For forty or fifty years the paper
was all made by hand, now there is not a mill
in the country using this process, while Can-
ada has some of the largest and fastest ma-
chines in the world. These monsters make a
sheet almost 17 feet wide, and turn it out at the
rate of more than six hundred feet per
minute.

The New Partnership in Industry

By O. D. SKELTON

King, W. L. Mackenzie: — "Industry: A Study in the

Prim-iples Underlying Industrial Reconstruction."
Thomas Allen. Toronto, $3.

MR. KING'S book is easily the most im-
portant contribution yet made by any
Canadian writer to the question of the
organization of industry and particularly of the
relations of capital and labor. In addition to
the wide experience of industrial conditions
gained as student and administrator in this field
for many years in Canada, Mr. King has drawn
upon the researches made in the past four years
on behalf of the Rockefeller Foundation. Much
of the ground is covered in other works on in-
dustrial reconstruction which have appeared on
both sides of the Atlantic in the past year or so,
but the present work differs in its more com-
prehensive sweep and in its unique combina-
tion of well-worked-out theory and concrete il-
lustrations from actual conditions.

The first five chapters are devoted to an an-
alysis of the present economic system, and of its
growth out of simpler forms. The defects of
inequality, insecurity and lack of understand-
ing and common aims are made clear, but the
writer does not find it necessary to join in the
indiscriminate condemnation of the present sys-
tem which characterizes so much half-baked and
hysterical social criticism today. He empha-
sizes the improvements made in the conditions
of work and reward due to "the production of
wealth on the scale made possible by the capi-
talist organization of industry," insists that "if
the cash nexus has broken the bond of personal
security, it has broken also the yoke of personal
subordination," and shows that "if capital has
been a disintegrating factor, breaking up fami-
lies and scattering individuals as atoms to the
ends of the earth, more than any other agency,
it has also been reponsible for bringing to-
gether individuals in groups and communities,
and making possible an ever-increasing measure
of associated effort."

Ah interesting parallel is drawn between in-
dustrial and international relations. The differ-
ent parties to industry, like the nations of Eu-
rope before the war, live in suspicion and fear,
fail to understand the point of view of the op-

posing side, deal in dangerous ultimatums, are
held back by pride from making concessions,
and. after smouldering opposition has broken
out in open warfare, inherit legacies of hatred
and misunderstanding. More novel, and prob-
ably the most original theoretical contribution
made in the book, is the parallel between the rise
of representative government in politics and its
rise in industry. From Magna Charta to John
Hampden, principles and incidents in the
struggle for civil and political liberty are drawn
upon to illuminate the path to be followed now
(hat the world is trying to work out democracy
in industry.

In the concluding chapters Mr. King develops
the principles and methods of the new law and
the new partnership that must be achieved if
society is not to perish in anarchy. In attaining
industrial peace compulsory investigation and
publicity are emphasized more than compulsory
arbitration, as might be expected from the fram-
er of the Canadian Industrial Disputes Inves-
tigation Act. As means of securing the increas-
ed productivity essential if the demands of the
future are to be met, scientific management,
profit-sharing and labor co-partnership, and
the several methods of industrial remuneration,
are considered in a well-balanced and informed
review. The changes, particularly in the way of
social insurance, necessary to conform to the
national minimum of health, are then discussed.
Chief emphasis is, however, given to the ques-
tion of the organia^tion of industry. Various
vociferous solutions, state socialism, syndicalism
and guild socialism, are in turn weighed and
found wanting. . Partnership, the recognition
of the right of all the parties concerned in pro-
duction to a voice in its management and direc-
tion, is the solution advocated. Illustrations
are given from the plan of local representation
worked out by the writer for the Colorado Fuel
and Iron Company, and from the joint indus-
trial councils on a national scale proposed in
the Whitley Reports. An ingenious series of
charts and diagrams sums up the analysis and
the conclusions of this comprehensive study.
The book is not one for summer hammock read-
ing, hut it will amply repay the attention of
every serious student of the world's most uni-
versal and most pressing problem.

April. 1919.

CWMU I \ I'.OUKMAN

The Last of the Old-Style Booksellers

By ST. GEORGE BURGOYNE

EBBNEZBB PICKEN, the last of the
old-school booksellers in Montreal, or
for that matter in Canada, is dead. His
passing leaves a vacancy that will never
be filled.

A visit to the little bookshop on Heaver Hall
Hill meant more than a mere commercial ileal.
.Mi-. Picken was not troubled aboul business
in the ordinary sense, and if one sought a
"best seller" of meretricious quality he would
lie courteously referred to a book-store which
prided itself on being up-to-the-minute. The
impression conveyed after a few visits was that
books were Mr. Picken's friends, and that if

EBEN PICKEN.
— Portrait study by Sidney Carter.

no one wanted to buy them he would have
his friends with him a little longer. There was
about the old shop, and the man who presided
over its destiny, an atmosphere of "money
no object." Not that the surroundings sug-
gested affluence, unless it were an affluence of
the spirit. There was the undeniable sense
that the volume which changed hands afford-
ed, or should afford, the customers an intel-
lectual profit for which the financial exchange
was not commensurate. The City Directory had
his listed as '■bookseller," but to his friends

he was ill the truest sense the old-time book
man.

For over forty years Eben Picken held
this place. His name was not displayed on the
window, and to those who visited the shop it was
just "Picken's." The window panes were not
always free id' dust, and there was no attempt
at "dressing" the window — featuring the
wares that were for sale. On a slanting slab
was a little of everything — books, pamphlets,
periodical magazines, greeting cards, prints,
and an odd watereolor or two. The upper panes
were shaded by sheets of brown paper to
lower the light in the interior of the old place.
Up and down the hill Commerce and Finance
buzz in limousines with liveried drivers —
worldly success, or the bold front in face of
ruin. Inside the shop was peace, and in
browsing among the hooks the outside world
could be forgotten.

Books on shelves and in piles, art maga-
zines, and prints were everywhere — the coun-
ter littered with bookish material. A visit
furnished all the thrill of opening a surprise
packet. There was so much there that might
not be found elsewhere, and if one showed sin-
cere interest and some taste one could rum-
mage without interruption. On the shelf be-
hind the counter stood a row of framed pic-
tures and if on occasion you had bought a
hook devoted to paintings, drawings, or prints.
Mr. Picken might lay down on the counter
an etching, mezzotint, or engraving and volun-
teer a few comments on its excellence, and
give biographical data respecting the artist.
For he was an authority on prints and a col-
lector of taste and discernment. It was obvious
that it was the older masters who claimed his
affection — Durer and the men of that time,
but not to the exclusion of modern schools.

In literature his taste was catholic and sound.
He had a fondness for verse, and the writer
recalls how his interest in John Masefield was
kindled when a copy of The English Review
was laid on the counter for perusal. That was
in the days when the voice of that forceful
English singer could be heard almost every
month. That act created a taste for Mase-
field. Truly in the fullness of time, either
by personal discovery or on the word of a
friend, Masefield 's work would have been
added to my list of admirations, but Mr. Pick-
en introduced me to him years ago and saved
me from having to bemoan the fact that I
found him so late. This great thing can be
said of Montreal's dead bookman; he has been
a gentle, tasteful, and consistent propagandist
of what is worth while in letters. A man of cul-
ture, he has dealt in books through love of
them, and not of financial necessity.

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

April, 1919.

When his door was locked for the last time
it was a distinct loss to book-lovers, but many
will carry to the end the sense of peace and
pleasure which could be found there. The re-
lief the old shop afforded on those Saturday
afternoons in summer when all who could had
made for the open spaces, when from the front
steps the vista ended with foliage grey with
dust and the silver dome of St. James Cathe-
dral was seen through a shimmering film, will
be remembered. Two doors down the hill there
might be a perspiring tourist reading the
graven tablet: "Here stood Beaver Hall, Built
1800, Burnt 1848. Mansion of John Frobisher,
one of the Founders of the North-West Com-
pany which made Montreal for years the Fur
Trading Centre of America." Inside the shop
it was dim and cool. A band of mellowed light
rested on counter, shelves, and floor, and be-
yond to the little back office, where Mr. Picken
kept his accounts and read his books, there
was shade. Through the open door in the rear
a tiny yard flooded with sunlight — an arrange-
ment in light and shade which would have
charmed an old Dutch painter.

While we talked Mr. Picken would be par-
celling books for Murray Bay, Cacouna, or
Bic: — the very names letting into the dim shop
a fleeting glimpse of blue sky, heaving sea,
golden sands and umber rocks — and to our
conversation there would be the running sing-

song accompaniment of Chinamen chatting in
the laundry next door. Looking out into the
sun-lit yard one had on the left hand side
types of a great and ancient race, on the right
a marble reminder of a great Canadian com-
mercial venture, and, between the two, aesthe-
tic satisfaction and content.

There was about the old shop, its contents,
and its owner nothing to suggest material com-
merce, and last of all wholesale hardware, but
it was in this commodity, with Ferrier and Com-
pany, that Mr. Picken started his business
career. Forty odd years ago his taste for things
literary and artistic became so strong that he
abandoned hardware for bookselling, and his
shop soon became a meeting place for kindred
spirits in Montreal, where he was born in May,
1841.

Ebenezer Picken knew, with the intimacy
which comes of common tastes, practically all
of the prominent literary figures of Eastern
Canada in the last forty years. He had many
genial and enlightening antedotes to narrate
concerning them, and as he had himself con-
siderable skill as a writer, he was often asked
in his later years to set down his recollections
in black and white. That he did not do so
is perhaps mainly due to modesty, that virtue
which when carried to excess becomes a vice
and the cause of much loss to the world.

— ■ ! ■ '— J> "'Hlli'i^iA^ i

''Mi,, %^-^mmnmimm WGSimn I

IPlXOie

Eben Picken's Bookshop on Beaver Hall Hill,
Montreal.

Am-ii. [919.

CAh \l>l \\ BOOKM I \

William Wilfred Campbell

By W. T. ALLISON

IN the death of William Wilfred Campbell,
LL.D., F.R.S.C., of Ottawa, on January 1.

1918, Canada lost one of the greatest of her
poets. Although far from being an old man
when death closed his earthly career, being only
fifty-seven years of age, he had a long literary

life. For a whole generation he was recognized
throughout the Dominion as a national poet.
From the date of the publication of his first
book of verse, "Lake
Lyrics," in 1889,
he was acknowledg-
ed to be in the very
front rank of Can-
adian singers. His
place in our literary
annals will always
be secure not only
because of the high
merit of his work,
but because he had
the good fortune to
belong to w ha 1
might be called the
first national group
of poets in Canada.
The other members
of this group were
Archibald Lamp-
man, Charles G. D.
Roberts, Duncan
Campbell Scott.
Bliss Carman, and
Frederick George
Scott. All of these
writers with the ex-
ception of Lamp-
man, who died on
February 10, 1899,
and in whose mem-
ory Wilfred Camp-
bell wrote one of the
finest of his elegies,
"The Bereavement
of the Fields," are
still active in the
production of
poetry, and still serenely wear the laurels which
they won thirty years ago. A younger school
of writers is now cultivating the art of song in
Canada, but the names of the above mentioned
poets are still the most considerable in our lit-
erature.

William Wilfred Campbell was born in Berlin.
Out., on June 1, 1861. He was the son of Rev.
Thomas Swaniston Campbell, and came of good
old Highland stock, belonging to a cadet branch
of the House of Argyll, and numbering among
his kinsmen Thomas Campbell, the poet, and
Henry Fielding, the novelist. Educated at the
University of Toronto and in Cambridge, Mass.,

DR. WILFRED
— From a paint

CA
ing

Wilfred Campbell was ordained rector as a
clergyman of the Church of England in I
and took charge of a parish first in New Eng-
land and later in St. Stephen, X.l'». In his
college days he had developed his taste for let-
ters, and during the first years of his ministry
be produced considerable verse. In 1889 he
launched his initial volume of poetry, his "Lake
Lyrics," which immediately established his re

putation as a Can-
adian singer with a
distinctive note. It
was mainly on the
strength of his ac-
complishment i n
•' Lake Lyrics" that
Sir Wilfrid Lan-
rier two years later
found a position for
him in the Civil Ser-
vice at Ottawa.
where he joined the
Dominion Archives
Bureau under Dr.
Doughty. From this
time onward the
poet devoted himself
to the pursuit of
literature, and the
long list of publica-
tions to his credit
bears witness to his
industry. He be-
came a frequent con-
tributor to such
publications as the
Atlantic Monthly.
Harper's, and the
Century Magazine,
and the London
spectator and Athe-
naeum.

During his dis-
tinguished career as
poet, antiquarian,
novelist, dramatist,
and government of-
ficial. Wilfred Campbell had his share of hon-
ors. In addition to wide recognition of his
poetic powers in the United States and Eng-
land, and his standing as one of the foremost
poets of his native land, he was gratified at be-
ing elected Fellow of the Royal Society o£ Can-
ada in 1893. Another public honor came his
way two years later, when he was made a
member of the Library Committee in connection
with the Quebec Tercentenary celebration. In
1907 he was elected a councillor of the Cana-
dian Society of Historical Landmarks.

Although Dr. Campbell was not spared to see
the triumph of the Allies, his soul was greatly

MPBELL
by J. W.

L. Forster

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

April, 1919.

moved by the epic struggle. He wrote many
stirring lyrics, one of which, "The Ballad of
Langemarck," will rank among his ablest pro-
ductions. Of all our Canadian poets, Wilfred
Campbell was the most ardent imperialist. His
patriotic poems, all of them breathing the most
intense love for the Motherland as well as for
Canada, compose at least half of his published,
and more than half of his unpublished work.

The following is a bibliography of Dr. Camp-
bell's poetic writing: "Lake Lyrics" (1889);
"The Dread Voyage" (1893); "Mordred and
Hildebrand," tragedies (1895); "Daulac," a
tragedy (1896) ; "Beyond the Hills of Dream"
(1899)'; "Collected Poems" (1905); "Poetical
Tragedies,— Mordred, Daulac, Morning, Hilde-

brand" (1908;; "Canadian Canticles" (1913);
"Sagas of Vaster Britain" (1914); "Lange-
marck, and Other War Poems" (1917). Dr.
Campbell edited in 1912 "The Oxford Book of
Canadian Verse," the standard anthology of
Canadian poetry.

The prose works of Dr. Campbell include
"Ian of the Orcades," a romance (1906) ; "Can-
ada," illustrated by T. M. Martin, R.C.A.
(1907), "A Beautiful Rebel," a novel (1909),
and "The Canadian Lake Region" (1910).

A selected edition of Dr. Campbell's poems,
including much of his unpublished verse, edited
by Dr. W. T. Allison of Winnipeg, will shortly
be published by The Musson Book Company of
Toronto.

The Foundation of Modern
Belgian Literature

De Coster, Charles: "The Legend of the Glorious Ad-
ventures of Tyl Ulenspiegel," with twenty wood-
cuts by Albert Delstanche. Dent, Toronto, $2.50.
(McBride, New York).

Turquet-Milnes, G.: "Some Modern Belgian Writers:
A Critical Study." Dent, Toronto, $1 (McBride.
New Tork).

MUCH that is at first sight unfamiliar
and difficult of comprehension in the
works of Verhaeren, Lemonnier and
others of the group treated in the very
instructive little volume of Turquet-Milnes. be-
comes immediately natural and proper, drops
into its true place in historical perspective, when
we have read the flaming tale which Lemonnier
himself called, with justice, the National Epic
of Flanders. Nor is it alone the literature of
Flanders which is made comprehensible by this
tremendous work: it sheds much light upon the
sources and nourishment of the spirit of na-
tional patriotism which has sustained the Flem-
ish people through centuries of trials such as
perhaps no other nation, certainly no highly
civilised nation, has been called upon to en-
dure. "Tyl Ulenspiegel," which is now for
the first time (and very beautifully) done into
English by Geoffrey Whitworth, was first pub-
lished, in sixteenth-century French (which its
author maintained was the only language for
the embodiment of Flemish ideas), in 1867. The
difficulties of the language, and the fact that
it was in a limited edition, conspired to prevent
it from obtaining general recognition, and it
was not till an edition in modern French was
issued in 1893, long after the author's death,
that it began to be hailed as a masterpiece. But
its effect upon the new generation of Flemish
writers was immense. It inspired them with
that motive of the passionate ardor of animal
life, the eager acceptance of all that the sun,
the earth, the processes of the physical world,
have to give, which has been the characteristic
note of one-half of the school ever since the
Renascence of Belgian Letters. And no one in
the entire school has made more lovely poetry

out of that ardor and that acceptance than
has Charles de Coster.

"Tyl Ulenspiegel" is an epic romance of the
sufferings and the redemption of Flanders un-
der the yoke of Spain. It deals wholly with
peasant life, portrayed with the boisterousness
and vivd humor of Rabelais, but also with an
idyllic poetry that is more suggestive of the
Greeks. In the half-dozen passages in which
kings and priests and great personages are
shown, they are sharply contrasted with the
healthy honesty of the peasants, for they are all
perverts, criminals, tyrants and butchers — as
indeed they and their class may well have ap-
peared to the wretched Flemings laboring under
the yoke. Never perhaps in all literature have
the virtues of the people, of the peasantry, the
men and women in touch with the soil, been
hymned as they are in this epic.

The same reverence for the energy, the effort,
the intense animalism of the Flemish peasant
( celebrated long before in art by the great Flem-
ish painters) is to be found in most of the
work of Verhaeren, who next to Maeterlinck is
the most important personage treated in the
Turquet-Milnes book. Even the Greek idyl-
lism turns up again; "the shepherds of Theo-
critus have come back to live in Flanders." Yet
there are tremendous differences between the
naif beauty of the 1867 epic and the restless and
disquieting philosophic inquiry, which charac-
terises most of the present-day Belgian writers.
Rodenbach, Eekhoud, Max Elskamp, Charles
van Lerberghe, the Destree Brothers, Courouble,
are all treated with sympathy and understand-
ing in "Some Modern Belgian Writers," and if,
like most handbooks, it is somewhat over-con-
densed, the chief result of that defect will be to
inspire a keen desire for further information on
what is certainly one of the most vital and
important literary movements in the world to-
il ay, and one which has received an adventitious
but not undeserved popularity and interest
from the sufferings of the nation which pro-
duced it.

April. L919.

r.i.v.i/>/ i \ hook ua.\

Three Novels by Ibanez

By J. POYNTER BELL

SPAIN is still almost unexplored territory
to the generality of novel-readers in
English speaking countries. The works
of Russian novelists are to be found
everywhere, and most people seem to know
something of Tourgenieff or Dostoieffsky. but
the Spanish novelists, though a number of their
books have been translated into English, have
never, till just, recently, reached any large
quantity of English readers. That Blasco
Ibanez, who is not the greatest of the Spanish
novelists, is coming to a wider popularity is
due chiefly to the fact that the last of his
books which has appeared in English i6 a novel
of the war.

"The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" is,
in nearly all respects except the language in
which it was written, a French, rather than a
Spanish, novel. Not only is the greater part of
the story placed in France, but the thought and
feeling throughout seem to be distinctly French
rather than Spanish. This is particularly no-
ticeable in the somewhat commonplace love af-
fair between Jules Desnoyers, the painter, who
does no painting, and the married woman, Mar-
guerite Laurier, which is of a stereotyped pat-
tern common to French novelists.

The book probably owes the greater part of
its success to the adventures of Marcel Des-
noyers, the father, during the battle of the
Marne. Ibanez. whose anti-German sentiments
are clear enough here and elsewhere, gives a
picture of the sacking of Desnoyers' chateau,
the shooting of the mayor and the cure, and
the savagery of a part}' of German officers ; and
yet, for all the vividness, he does not succeed
in producing the impression that he is describ-
ing things which he has seen for himself. The
best and most actual part of the book tells of
the life of Marcel Desnoyers in Argentina, in
which country he had taken refuge, as a com-
munist, at the time of the Franco-German war.
His father-in-law, Madarriaga, is perhaps the
most interesting character in the book, and one
is inclined to wish for more about him and ra-
ther less about the Parisian life of the grand-
son, Jules, and his futile friend Argensola. This
friend, Argensola, is the only true Spaniard in
the story and would seem to have been brought
in to show the indifferent attitude of certain
Spaniards on the question of the war, an atti-
tude with which the author has evidently no
sympathy.

A very different Ibanez appears when he
writes about his countrymen in their own coun-
try. He gives us not only characters of an
unaccustomed type, but descriptions of places
and of the life of the people which should be
intensely interesting to readers outside of Spain.
He writes of these things as one who loves them,

but, for all that, he is a strong advocate of radi-
calism and anti-clericalism, with a devotion to
his cause which in always evident, and he gives
in his stories good reasons for the faith which
he preaches.

"Blood and Sand," or "The Blood of the
Arena," as it is called in another English trans-
lation, is a story — almost an analysis— of bull-
fighting. It is a study of the vanity and cow-
ardice of a bull-fighter, and popular hero, Gal-
lardo, who after many triumphs in the ring is
badly wounded by a bull and, on recovering,
finds that he has lost his nerve. He tries, with
little success, to work himself back into the
favor of his public, and is killed on the horns
of a bull which has only with difficulty been
persuaded to fight at all. The man is for the
most part contemptible and serves to convey
the author's scorn of bull-fights and of the
people who watch and applaud them, but, with
all his scorn, Ibanez is evidently Spaniard
enough to have a very thorough knowledge of
bull-fighting. The deaths of many bulls and
the wounding of men and horses are described
with a completeness of detail which may be-
wilder, and sometimes disgust, readers who are
not Spanish.

The rather scanty story holds together several
excellent pictures of life and customs other than
those of the bull-ring. An amusing, though ma-
licious, description is given of the Holy "Week
procession at Seville, a pagan mixture of piety,
or superstition, and wild buffoonery, and we
get some idea of the ways and adventures of
boys when they are brought up in a country
in which a bull-fighter is always a great man.
Two characters in the book are particularly at-
tractive. One of these is a marquis who breeds
bulls for the ring, and is divided between his
affection for the animals and his pride in the
glory of their deaths. The other is an old bull-
fighter, Nacional, who in the intervals of his
work mixes with radicals and anarchists. As a
result, while he continues to fight bulls for
his living, though always with a certain regard
for his own safety, he looks on bull-fighting, in
the abstract, with disapproval as something con-
nected with clericalism and reaction.

A more interesting book, in every way, than
either of those just mentioned is "The Shadow
of the Cathedral." In this Ibanez gives full
play to his love for his country and its history
and, at the same time, to his anti-clericalism. The
whole story passes in the precincts of the cathe-
dral at Toledo and most of it in the cloister and
the houses which open on to it. The persons of
the book are all clergy, servants or hangers-on
of the cathedral, some of them people whose
families have been attached to the cathedral for
generations. A member of one of these fami-

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

April, 1919.

lies, who has wandered about the world, first
as a Carlist and later as an anarchist, comes
back, his body worn out by imprisonment at
Barcelona, to his old home, hoping to find there
rest and safety from the attentions of the police.
As he becomes better acquainted with his new
neighbors he forgets the caution which he had
imposed on himself and begins to expound his,
and Ibanez', political views. He expounds at
considerable length ; there is page after page
of his speeches, until he becomes as wearisome
as Tchernoff, the crazy Russian anarchist in
the "Four Horsemen." The final result of
his preaching is that his pupils — servants of
the cathedral and the cobbler, who has his
house in right of his wife, a member of one
of the cloister families — attempt to rob a statue
of the Virgin, decked with jewelry for a festi-
val, and murder their teacher when he tries to
prevent them. The festival procession through
the streets is distinctly more decorous than that
which is described in "Blood and Sand," but
Ibanez manages to get some comic effect out
of it.

The pictures of the cathedral and its sur-
roundings are very unequal in quality. At
times the author seems inspired by the beauty
of the church and even its ceremonies, at others
he gives us pages of description which are wor-
thy only of a guide-book. In spite of his anti-
clerical views, he is able to write with real en-
thusiasm of the spectacular part of Spanish
Catholicism and of the history of the church
and the glories of its ancient bishops, but he
wastes little or no sympathy on the clergy or
the religion which they practice. He takes par-
ticular delight in describing the fights between
the Archbishop and the Canons of his cathe-
dral, and the Archbishop's eventual triumph

over them. The Cardinal Archbishop himself
receives a kinder treatment than the other clergy
in the book, not indeed in his capacity of priest,
but as a very human old sinner, whose daughter
passes as his niece. One of the best scenes in
the book is that in which the Cardinal, cheered
by a recent victory over his Canons, discusses
his failings, very frankly, with the old garden-
er's widow, whose playmate he had been as a
boy.

The charm of the book, apart from the scene
and the atmosphere, lies in the characters of
the people who live around the cathedral. There
is the official who takes charge of the admis-
sion of visitors to the church and its treasures,
and does his best to mix sanctimonious pro-
priety with the business instincts of a show-
man. There are the cobbler whose function is
to repair certain giants which had figured in
processions, the night watchmen, and the boy
whose chief duty seems to be to drive dogs out
of the cathedral. Best of them all is the Chapel
Master, a priest to whom music means far more
than religion, his true faith being summed up
in the statement that there is one great Lord
in the world and two lesser lords, Galileo and
Beethoven. Ibanez has an evident affection for
his old musician, whose conversation is delight-
ful.

The diversity of ideas and methods in these
three books is remarkable ; they show us Span-
iards of every kind and degree with their good
and bad qualities. All through them the bright-
ness of southern sunlight seems to bring cheer-
fulness into the doings of people as poor and
primitive as any that are to be found in Rus-
sian novels. There are elements or "orutality and
a good deal of superstition, but both seem cov-
ered up by bright and gay coloring.

Some Advice for the Dramatic Muse

Professor "William Lyon Phelps' book, "The
Twentieth Century Theatre," is more correct-
ly described by its sub-title, "Observations on
the Contemporary English and American
Stage." The Lampson Professor of English
Literature at Yale is excellent in observation,
but he has not in this volume made much effort
to systematise the results of nis note-taking.
He has, however, a thesis, and a very promising
one, though he has not succumbed to the temp-
tation to "work it up"; it is that before there
can be anything like a diffusion of dramatic
art in America "there must be a stock com-
pany in every city, and every company must
have the right to produce new plays. ' ' This is
obviously a radical attack upon the present
system under which a single producer, and often
a single star actor or actress, enjoys the mon-
opoly of giving performances of an important
new dramatic work for year's upon years, as
Miss Adams (with the connivance of her man-
ager and the author) has in the case of "What
Every Woman Knows" and other Barrie plays

— works of the first importance in the modern
English theatre, yet which no resident of the
North American continent can see except the
two thousand a night, in the larger cities, who
can present themselves at the theatre where Miss
Adams happens to be playing; say, 600,000 a
year out of a population of one Tiundred mil-
lions. Allowing for holidays, houses of less than
2,000 capacity and "repeat" visits by some of
the audience, and under this system it takes
two years for one per cent of the population to
get the chance of seeing a new play.

There are other points of interest and com-
ments of justice in Professor Phelps' book,
which will stimulate readers to serious thought
about the lamentable condition of ptiblic enter-
tainment on this continent. But we trust that
the rest of his information is more sound than
the assertion, apropos of municipal theatres,
that "In Canada, Port Arthur has had one for
a long time." Can he be thinking of the other,
and perhaps in this respect more civilised, city
of the same name? (Macmillan, Toronto, $1.25.)

April. 1!M!I.

C I V.IW I \ i:nnh 1/ I A

i;:i

What Fvery Canadian Ought to Know

By W. S. WALLACE

THE insularity of England is as nothing
compared with the insularity of America.
If most of the inhabitants of North Am-
erica were candid with themselves, they
would admit thai their knowledge of the poli-
ties and history of modern Europe dates from
1914 or thereafter; and even to-day many of us
read the dispatches from Europe in the morn-
ing newspaper with a frequent sense of mysti-
fication. Yet we have learnt that an incident
in' an obscure town in the Balkans may affect us
most intimately and profoundly ; and doubtless
many of us have come to feel that we ought to
know more about the contemporary history of
Europe than we do.

There have not been lacking hitherto books
which professed to give a view of European his-
tory in the nineteenth century ; but most of
these have been books written for the edifica-
tion of undergraduates, and did not make easy
reading. The need for a book suitable, not
only for the undergraduate, but also for the
general reader, has now been supplied by Pro-
fessor J. Salwyn Schapiro of the College of the
City of New York. His "Modern and Con-
temporary European History" (Boston: Hough-
ton Mifflin Company, 1918, pp. xv. 804) is
worthy of hearty recommendation. Though
Professor Schapiro 's style does not everywhere
reach the same high level, the book is for the
most part brilliantly written. It presents, more-
over, some revolutionary aspects. In his pre-
face, which is a sort of historical confession of
faith, Professor Schapiro says: "Believing that
the main function of history is to explain the
present, I planned in writing this book to devote
increasingly more attention to the periods as
they approached our own time." His chap-
ters consequently might almost be described as
an introduction to the daily papers. In his mode
of writing history he is equally unconventional,
and equally happy. He breaks free complete-
ly from the methods of the mediaeval chronic-
ler, who has too long cast his spell over modern
historical writing ; and he disentangles the vari-
ous threads and strands in the web of history,
and follows each through to its ending. In this
way his chapters are self-contained stories. He
concerns himself, not only with the stock in-
cidents of political and military history, but
also with industrial and agricultural history,
with new movements in thought and in social

organization, with scientific progress and even
with literary progress. His method, in fact,
is topical and encyclopaedic.

In selecting phases of Professor Schapiro 's
book which might call for especial notice, one
is embarrassed by the wealth of choice. A strik-
ing feature of the book is the admirable chap-
ter entitled "Revolutionary Labor Movements,"
in which the rise of nineteenth century social-
ism, anarchism, and syndicalism is described.
Another interesting chapter is that dealing with
"The Woman's Movement." Many readers will
find food for thought in the chapter which bears
the striking title, "The Expansion of Europe,"
in which the imperialistic projects of the Eu-
ropean nations in Asia and Africa are brought
together. Separate treatment is given to the
"Irish Question" and to "The British Em-
pire." The sections dealing with literary his-
tory are, however, perhaps the most novel in
the book. To devote, as Professor Schapiro
does, more space to George Bernard Shaw and
H. G. Wells than to the history of the Domin-
ion of Canada or to the history of Australia
and New Zealand put together, must have re-
quired courage of no mean order ; but one is
tempted to forgive Professor Schapiro because
of the brilliance of his comment on the former,
and the poverty of his treatment of the latter.
It may be doubted whether Professor Schapiro
was well advised in including in his book the
long chapter on "The World War," for, as
he himself admits in his preface, the history of
the World War can hardly be written yet ; and
in his general outline he rather sinks back into
the manner of the mediaeval chronicler. But
these are perhaps captious criticisms which
should not be allowed to abate one's admiration
for the masterly way in which the book has
been planned and in which the plan has been
carried into execution.

A feature of the book is its remarkable accur-
acy. In the two pages devoted to Canada there
are, perhaps inevitably, some half-truths ; but
there are no actual errors, a statement which,
to be candid, can be made about few books
dealing with Canada published in the United
States. The proof-reading has been carefully
done; the book is illustrated with some good
maps; there is a very useful bibliography and
an adequate index.

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

Monotones

By S. MORGAN POWELL

April, 1019.

T is worth while climbing— in order to fall.

Religion was created in order that men
might dissent.
The inevitable is what we did not try to
avoid.

If Paris had eaten the apple, Troy might still
be standing.

Emotion is the sounding-board on which we
strike mostly discords.

Innocence differs from ignorance in that it
is not vulgar ; both are equally fatal to the pro-
tagonist.

The reason women love dissimulation is that
it acts as a stimulant to their intuitive facul-
ties.

History is strewn with social failures, but the
world goes on striving.

It is the triumph of hopes over fears which
sustains the faith that makes for the progress
of the world.

Most people receive their beliefs ; they do not
form them. A widely-diffused mental inde-
pendence would be the death of social unity.

The value of history lies in its negations; it
teaches us what not to do.

Partial knowledge is never more fatal than
when it precipitates conclusions in regions that
lie deep in shadow.

The world groans between dead common-
place and abortive originality. Progress lies
between ideas and systems that will no longer
serve, and social states that cannot be discerned
even afar off.

Formality and convention are necessary, but
they are the ministers of seemliness rather than
of feeling. Feeling may go along with them,
but feeling has its own sanctions.

Between those who think that the lighter side
of life is life, and those who believe that what
men chiefly need is definite instruction on seri-
ous but inscrutable things, the world is well
tried.

There is such a thing as sanity ; it is the mean
between the conventionalism which accepts
everything that is established, and the unreason-
ing revolt against everything because it is es-
tablished.

What would happen if men were agreed as
to what is important and what is not important
is almost unthinkable ; there is a sense in which
the world, as we know it, would come to an end.

The principle that "it is expedient for us
that one man should die for the people" is a
social principle which sacrifices the few to the
many; it is the refuge of an uneasy self -right-
eousness which knows its own secrets.

It is a mental attitude not inconsistent with
sincerity to realise that our certainties are not
the measure of things, and that the stress of
our emotions may be laid on what is least veri-
fiable and most ready to vanish away.

Authority is a human necessity ; sound au-
thority is the foundation of progress. In mat-
ters of social concern, we cannot, except at a
price, have people thinking, and, as often logic-
ally follows, acting for themselves, irrespective
of their competence.

It seems that superstition is necessary, or,
which is the same thing, inevitable ; those who
think that it is not have to explain why it has
played such a tremendous part in the world,
and why no age, and it may almost be said, no
human being, is free from it.

Nations, like individuals, go on building an
edifice of material prosperity, and concurrently
with it they undergo a psychological evolution.
In what fashion they evolve is of consequence,
for in spite of self-appreciation, self-content,
and even external praise, the gifts of fortune
carry with them no moral implications.

Serious things belong to serious people; and
there has never been a nation which contained
more than a serious minority. In any sense
which takes account of interests not personal
and immediate, the majority of men are not
serious; and quite apart from individual char-
acter, there is much in their education and cir-
cumstances which explains why they are not.
The mass of men are unthinking, and many of
them are worse ; it is still true that nations are
saved by a just remnant, and it is a part of wis-
dom to bear, without too much vexation, follies
that have a long pedigree.

The necessary absorption in material cares is
to most people nine-tenths of life; what is im-
portant for them is to survive. It is when this
necessity has been surmounted, and when we
reach a region of choice, that social observation
widens. It is a region that has been surveyed
from the earliest times — upon which philoso-
phers, satirists, saints and sages have had their
say. Their agreement is wonderful ; it may be
compendiously stated in the proposition that
most people who have freedom and opportunity
are concerned for unimportant things. They
do not know how to live, and they have a very
imperfect appreciation of, and generally a total
indifference to all that makes for the general
well-being.

April. 1919.

V I \ l/'/.l.\ i:ool< I/. I \

A world of unselfish and bumble men would
be the negation of elements of civilization,
which, whatever their drawbacks, have tended
to the development of society from social struc-
tures that had drawbacks still greater. The
world has progressed through striving, and the
outcome of individual and collective striving is
strife.

There are sentiments and emotions that cost
little, that are pleasurable or comforting in
themselves; as aids to self-deception they have
a well-established reputation. Spurious forms
of loyalty, of patriotism, and of religion, have
a common pedigree — they are equally founded
in vanity, superstition, and self-pleasing. It is
not possible to have virtues that are inexpen-
sive, and to stand well above the crowd.

•The lines of progress are many, and enthu-
siasts are not well fitted to take full account of
them. They are fated to illusions that may be
termed beneficent, because they give them
power to do the work to which they seem to be
called. Only those who are unable to form some
idea of the procession of man through the ages
will be ready to assign a more than relative
value to the enthusiasms of even the greatest
reformers. Experience, which tests all things,
enables us to recognise that it is not every truth
that is for all time. Movements that appear to
have in them the promise and potency of the
millennium are seen to be mere links in an end-
less chain. The religious, moral, and political
movements that stir men are pregnant with
great hopes, but between hope and realisation is

a gap that is never bridged. By the slow ac-
tion of many forces, the conditions of all prob-
lems are changed, and new adjustments, new so-
lutions, and new prophets arise.

Suspicion, in its social aspect, is a form of
precaution begotten of experience. Men know
their own motives, and they know, more or less,
one another. What people do, and refrain from
doing, is judged, not so much by what they pro-
fess, as by what it is thought they must be aim-
ing at. "Now what does he mean by that,"
said a diplomat, when he heard that a colleague
was ill. There are simple explanations of things
that are not in the least incredible, but there
are persons much too astute to accept them; they
know better; in spite of all appearances.
Whether the tendency be towards favorable or
unfavorable 'estimates of human nature, the
mental medium through which men and events
are seen colors everything. Readiness of sus-
picion, or the reverse, is thus a part of tempera-
ment. Obviously in this, as in so many matters,
prudence lies between extremes, which is only
another way of saying that the right use of sus
picion belongs to the insight which takes men
in the mass to be neither wholly good nor
wholly bad, and which recognises that as be-
tween individual men, there are important dif-
ferences. As there is no general rule for being
wise and discerning, so there is no rule for be-
ing suspicious at the proper time and place.
Hence both excess and defect of a quality that
plays a necessary part in social and individual
preservation ; between misplaced trust and un-
founded mistrust lies the tragedy of life.

The Island of Intrigue

An island is the ideal setting for a mystery,
marvel or romance, because almost anything
can consistently happen on an island if it is
small enough. Possibly that is why Isabel Os-
trander chose that little piece of wild, almost
unin<habited land off the Coast of Maine —
Hog's Back Island by name — as the stage for
her story, "The Island of Intrigue." The tell-
er of the tale, who is also the heroine, is an in-
genuous young millionairess with no one in the
wide world to love her (when the book opens)
but an adoring, though eternally busy father
who, on the first page, disappoints her hope of
accompanying him on a long trip he is about
to make. Because of this, the unfortunate girl
sees the desolate prospect stretching before her
of spending the summer with a stupid, rich fam-
ily she hasn 't seen for years and years, not since
she was a little girl. They were nice when they
were poor, and she was little, but she soon dis-
covers that they have grown unaccountably
vulvar and horrid. Altogether, she has a per-
fectly abominable time, and we don't know what
she would have done if it hadn't been for that

delicious young man who "happened" exactly
at the right time. It was a most fortunate co-
incidence.

The fair young heroine lures you along to the
middle of. the book before you discover that it
is a mystery tale you are reading, and that
there is a murder, and a lot of real horrid
criminals in the story — half a dozen of them, in
fact. She is very young, the heroine — Oil Well
Waring 's daughter, very young and trusting
and unversed in the world's ways, but those
people who are trying to frighten a million dol-
lars out of her father soon learn that she is a
lot cleverer than they counted upon her being.
That's what spoilt their plan, of course, that and
the young man's presence. The book has in-
genuous, unpretentious simplicity, and healthi-
ness. There is hardly an obvious page of love,
yet love flows along, like a hidden understreani,
through all the last chapters, welling up very
occasionally with a little bubble. In the end
too, Justice has her way with all the wicked
ones in a most satisfying manner. (Dent, To-
ronto, $1.50.)

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

April, 1919.

Novelists, Pulpits and False Doctrines

Gale, Zona: "Birth." Macmillan, Toronto, $1.60.

Grey, Zane: "The Desert of Wheat." Musson, Toronto.
$1.50. (Harper. New York).

White, William Allen: "In the Heart of a Fool." Mac-
millan, Toronto, $1.60.

THE yearning of the American novelist
to ascend into the pulpit and preach a
sermon is usually insuperable; and the
American public, not long emancipated
from the church-going habit and still inclined to
like being preached at, if it can lie on a soft sofa
in the parlor during the process, seems to like to
hear the text given out and the cushions thump-
ed. But there is none of your old gospel in the
preaching; it must be the new stuff, with all
the latest catchwords; and very sour and un-
matured some of it is. Mr. William Allen
White is by antecedents a journalist, which
merely shows that the born preachers are more
and more realising that there are better pulpits
than those in the churches. He must undoubted-
ly have preached unintermittently in the col-
umns of the Emporia (Kas.) Gazette; and he is
now preaching to a much larger and hungrier
audience in a series of American novels, of
which the best-known to date is "A Certain Rich
Man." It will be noted that he takes his titles
from the same source as his forbears did their
texts. The New York Sun says his new novel,
"In the Heart of a Fool."" will "profoundly
affect the thoughts and feelings of many who
read it and so will alter their lives." It is cer-
tainly addressed to those who want to have
their thoughts and feelings affected, to the type
of people who go to revivals for just that pur-
pose ; but we hope that it will not largely achieve
its purpose, for it seems to us that the doctrine
which it teaches is decidedly dangerous. It is
an enormous book — 615 pages — and very loose-
ly and raggedly written, but it contains in pass-
ages a very picturesque and eloquent denuncia-
tion of constituted authority (authority fallen
into evil hands, it is true, but authority none
the less) and holds up to a somewhat sentiment-
al and undistinguishing reverence the very type
of impractical visionary who, in Russia and
elsewhere, is at this moment making the world
a place of horror, disorder and disorganization.
Mr. White is essentially a revolutionary, and a
sentimental revolutionary, and therefore in some
measure a dangerous man. His contribution
to literature is, like many another modern Am-
erican novel, the contribution of a man who
has no faith in the institutions of the United
States to preserve justice, liberty and the inter-
ests of the community ; and he therefore por-
trays, not merely as a psychologically interest-
ing thing (there is no artistic detachment about
any of his writings), hut as a highly desirable
thing, the efforts of his strike leaders, his pro-
phets of the new social gospel, his wielders of
■"spiritual forces," to defy the courts and in-

voke a physical conflict with the military. Of
course the courts and the military authorities
are represented in the blackest colors, as the
slaves of the "interests," but that is the inevit-
able argument of the revolutionary. If the
courts were just and the authorities honest,
what excuse would there be for revolution ?

Perhaps the best thing to be said for Mr.
White is that he makes out so poor an excuse
for revolution anyhow, for his "fool" is so vis-
ibly a fool and so little a prophet of real pro-
gress, that it is difficult to sympathise with
him. The Zane Grey novel, on the other hand,
belongs emphatically to the anti-revolutionary
school, and is chiefly devoted to the misdeeds of
the T.W.W. in the Western wheat country. It is
vividly told, and its love episodes are pleasant
and intelligible, which is more than can be said
for Mr. White's, in whose pages love is much
the same rampant and incomprehensible mon-
ster as in the amorphous novels of Will Leving-
ton Comfort. It is interesting and significant
that the revolutionary theme, though treated
so differently, should form the subject of both
of these important novels of the American sea-
son.

In Zona Gale's "Birth" we come into much
calmer and more artistic atmosphere. It is an-
other study of village life, but with something of
the seriousness and breadth of view of the Eng-
lish novelists — a far more important, if per-
haps less popular, piece of work than the
"Friendship Village" tales. It is not a cheer-
ful tale. It is a picture of very weak, bewild-
ered, unadapted human souls, beating in baffle-
ment against sordid, spiritless monotony of an
American village, against the narrow walls of
a species of community which has failed to keep
up with the expansion of modern life, against
the lack of opportunity, of beauty, of reason-
ableness— against all the things that for two
generations past have made existence in most
villages on this continent a nightmare and driv-
en hundreds of thousands of villagers into the
pitiless, overcrowded, unhealthy cities: But
Miss Gale draws these poor futile wretches,
both men and women, with an intensity of
sympathy that lifts their story almost to the
level of tragedy. And she has a true poet's
grasp of the immense significance, the beauty
the redeeming power of Death, even the death
of the lowliest of men and women. The prob-
lem that this book deals with is a great one,
no less than the opening of the possibility of a
full, rich, human life to millions of people on
this continent. And "Birth" is an important
document for its study, to be read along with
the "Spoon River Anthology" and the current
volumes on The Problem of Village Life in
America.

April. 1919.

CAN I/'/ .1 A BOOK IMA

Work for the Anthologist

By ALFRED GORDON

MacDonald, Wilson: "The Song i>f The Prairie Land,
am! Other Poems," with Introduction by Albert

E. S. Smyth.' McClelland and Stewart. Toronto,
$1.60.
Holland, Norah: "Spun- Yarn and Spindrift." Dent.
Toronto, $1.

Hueffer, Ford Madox: "On Heaven, and Other Poems.
Written on Active Service." Dent. Toronto, $1.25.

. MacDONALD has written an extra-
ordinary book of verse whose merits
and demerits are alike extreme, so that

the ony fair way to review it is at some

lensrth.

The "Prelude*' at onee shows one of his
gifts, the use of odd rhymes from which the sense
is not often wrenched :

The other traced and interlaced

By the strange fancy of a Dorian

Was sloped and curved to a woman's waist,

And worthy the pen of a grim historian.

but equally it shows his faults, a lack of struc-
ture, and loose imagery. It sets out to contrast
two jugs, one hewn from wood, the other of
Greek pottery, and Caneo wonders from which
he shall drink. The poet then declares himself
to be Caneo, and the jugs types of the muse,
rough or highly finished, but, speaking in his
own person, he brings in a third :

This is the poel 's Bell ; to know

I low rich a thing is Ins song's treasure;
To stand at night i nthe wind flow,
In a pure hour of leisure,

though T could scan:

This is the poet's Hell; to know
How rich a thing is his song's treasure;
To stand at night in the windy flow,
In the purest hour of leisure,

Mr. MacDonald may reply that I am taming
his metres. Not at all. The next four lines
read :

To call to his children and find

His voice is a broken chord

That is weary from calling all day in the wind :

"This hour's bread, 0 Lord,"

different, but not club-footed.

"A Song to Canada" has his first purple
patch :

And here is my grief that no longer she cares

For the tumult that crowds in a rune

When the white curving throat of a cataract

bares
In a song to the high floating moon,

marred only by the elliptical use of "bares."
He means "lies bare," but that will neither fit
the line nor rhyme with "cares." I leave it to
him to re-write it to match this:

Or a basin of rock, by the sea flavored
Shall be the cup I fill.

and the parallelism ends. These lines also show
a recurring metrical deficiency. The preced-
ing lines alone demand :

Or. a basin of rock by the salt sea flavored,

while a "wisp of juice" is not a trope as is
Francis Thompson's

I see the crimson blazing of thy shawms.

Mr. MacDonald is very fond of his "wisp,"
which in "The Cry of The Song Children" be-
comes one of bread, but this is as bad, and I
cannot scan :

But this is my grief that no longer she cares
For the old wounding message of truth
That sounds on the lips of a poet, who dares
Look under the rouge of her youth,

less fine imagery, but better verse.

Unfortunately, the more ambitious he is, the
less sufficient his craftsmanship, as is seen in
"A Poet Stood Forlorn":

Brings warmth that droops in drowsiness the
wing

is not happy, though defensible, with "droop"
as an active verb.
The lines preceding

Toward the mystic haunt where Beauty dwells

require "to-ward" which is horrifying.

( \ I SAD 1. 1 N BOOKMAN

April, 1919.

'Twas imperfection \s gain

That split this elm and made it grow in twain.

is a good image for the "beauty of ugliness,"
except that he does not mean the "gain" split
the elm, but that a split elm gains by its very
lack of symmetry a strange, new beauty.
Immediately after this comes:

In one famed park, that sires a perfect craft,

of which, first, a park can do no such thing, sec-
ond, his ears were stuffed with wool when he
wrote "park" and "craft" in one line.

These are not all the offences in six pages;
but, though I have noted, with just qualifica-
tions, the good, I have not done equal justice to
the bad, lest I should seem to pay tithe of mint,
etc., and to omit the weightier matters of the
law, which are, besides judgment, mercy and
faith.

The "Song of The Snowshoe Tramp" aims
less high and almost hits the mark. The "wisp"
turns up once more, but lest my criticism seem
waspish, this time it is of "thread." There is
here a good example of his carelessness :

We carried the shoes to the marge of the town,
To the edge of a still white moor;

Now "marge" suggests a wide space, e.g., the
marge of the great deep, and if he were to write :

We carried the shoes to the edge of the town,
To the marge of a still white moor,

he would gain the alliteration of the t 's and d 's
in the first, of the m's in the second line, and
also would make the town stand out sharply
limited against the larger picture of the moor
conjured up by the word "marge."

Next comes "The Whip-poor-will" with line's
as fine as:

Limned on a leaden sky, the huddled trees
Stand like the evil dregs in some black drink,

and as bad as:

Listing thy song waves plash a velvet shore,

but I will this time attempt to analyse struc-
ture instead of detail.

The Whip-poor-will is appropriately invoked,
"Sad Minstrel," etcs., but it has a load on its
conscience, and is made to wait till night to un-
burden it. There is no harm in this, for the
Whip-poor-will is of course Mr. MacDonald.
But the sun of mercy has just died with the
last golden ray. which brings in the gloomy,
but purple, patch above.

The scene is now set, and the bird sings its
"one simple song" to the "silent copse," while
the poet "on a hill, in pensive mood" stands
"listing," and he then reflects:

Oft hath Selene, in the vale of sheep,
Fondling her fair Endymion, as he lay
Pillowed where tearful grasses nightly weep,
Pled with Tacita through thy bowers to stray,
And warn thee lest thy lay
Should rouse her lover from his dreamful

bourne.
And angry, often hath she, knowing thou
Dost Phoebus fear, to trick thee it was morn.
Burnished her chariot's prow,

and the complications and bad verse begin. I
presume the Whip-poor-will was once guilty of
disturbing Selene's enjoyment of Endymion,
though why it should be charged with this I can-
not fathom, save that the poet elsewhere loves
to wrap his tongue round every syllable of
Selene, though the clue is possibly in the last
three lines, the poet reflecting, "when Selene
heard this bird, she would have liked to wring
its neck," but the reflection is an interruption.
However, he goes on :

When Eurus drives the first reluctant light,
With all Apollo's pageantry behind —
A dew-imbibing cortege — and the Night
Staggers to some black recess, stricken blind,

(note the wrong accentuation of "recess")

Full various are the kind
That tune a medley for the exiled king.
And so, doth man not woo his minstrelsy
At flush of power ; doth every bard not sing
When Pomp and might pass by?

Greater I deem is that attempt to thrill
The hour of gloom with deliquescent call.

Apparently the thought is that while Man
usually hails Apollo, the Whip-poor-will does
better to "brave the pall of this Cerberian
Hall," though this clashes with "tuning a med-
ley for the exiled king," i.e. Night, not Apollo;
yet that this is the meaning seems clear from
these lines :

Like thine our noblest utterance hath been
Out-bugled through the hours with shadows
fraught.

and then the poet, after calling fancy fickle,
describes how the bird first seemed like one of
the foolish virgins, then to wear a robe of cour-
age as it sang through the increasing gloom :

Fancy must play; did pierce thine ebon sphere
Some soldier, broken parcel of lost poweT,
I doubt not he would hear

April, L919.

CANADIAN I'.ooK i/.l V

Thee calling back to line the craven band
Thai hushed their Bonga before the cuirassed

dark,
Like some more ardent lover of his land
Who hails bark fleeting soldiers to their nark.
Like thine his cry: 0 hark!
Like is thy note, so fraught with dull despair.
(Too full already is that frory bed.)
And thou dost call as vainly through oight air
As he calls o'er his dead.

and the idea that if a soldier could picture the
same scene as the poet, he would imagine the
Whip-poor-will calling back the birds afraid
of darkness, as he would rally his men, is orig-
inal, though the execution ("did pierce," the
abrupt run-on to "some soldier," and, worse
from "hear" to "thee calling) is atrocious,
while the transition from the seventh to the
last line is certainly sudden.

This is the second ,and last interruption, and
the poet reverts to his opening mood:

To-night again I lie on that green isle,

but it is not strange that he has forgotten he
commenced "listing" on a hill, though he re-
members the bird was troubled:

If we like thee, dear, gentle bird, could sing
Away our sorrow in the dark alone,

but the last stanzas are clear, if weak :

But we must face the multitude and smile
Though Anguish leaneth on the heart's strained
chords,

which is worse than Ella Wheeler Wilcox's
worst.

"Trapper One and Trapper Two" is a tale
of two trappers who loved the same girl. She
dies, bequeathing to One a locket. One dies,
charging Two to bury it with him (under pen-
alty of a curse) — an "old song re-sung":

And the day you find me lifeless, in this cabin

gently search
For a testament to prove my words to men.
Should they challenge truth you'll find
Foil to parry in a pocket.
When you reach it, pray unwind
Someone's hair within a locket.
Hold it to mine eyes grim socket : I shall see it,

dead and blind.
Would you grant a dead man bliss, press it to

my lips to kiss :
Though I 'm dead I swear I '11 kiss it with a dead

man's sacred kiss.

Touch thy glass to mine, 0 comrade, who know

sorrow such as mine :
Legion of the hopeless lovers! drink with me

this bitter wine.

1 pass over "Otus and Bismol, " in which Otus

is the flesh and Rismel the soul, because I found
myself as incapable as the pool of remembering
which was which, and quote from the entirely
delightful "Whist-Wheel":

And over the hills I went.
And a gentle mound
I found;

Like some fairy's lost pillow upon the ground,
And I knelt on my knee,
And wrote on the sand,
With a sorrowing hand:
"Little brown Dee
Sleeps here by the sea :
All ye who pass
•Whist-whee!"

"Mary Mahone" is more of a poet's ballad
than the others, commencing:

A Poet in soul is our Mary Mahone:
She walks with a sweetheart when walking
alone,

but the rest of it is only pretty.

I have nearly overlooked "At the Ford":

Who now shall fear to journey where the feet
Of all our noble dead have ferried forth ?
The solemn air that fans the tragic ford
Is sweet with their remembrance. They have

gone
To light the temples of a fading star
Against our lonely passing,

a strain sustained for thirty lines, when the
poet is once more swallowed up in the "exuber-
ance of his own verbosity."

The concluding poem is "Peace":

Flow, flag, in the soft wind ; blow, bugle, blow ;
The day we dreamed of through the years is

here.
Lowered is Mars ' red spear ;
And the shot-peopled air,
Tired of the wild trumpet's blare,
Tired of the upturned, glassy eyes of men,
Is quiet again.

Discord has fled with her gigantic peals.
And, at her heels,

Walks the old silence of the long ago.
Flow, flag, in the soft wind ; blow, bugles, blow,

and the likening of peace to a great silence
after a great noise is fine of itself, and the line
in which the thought is embodied is also very
fine, but there are other fine lines here:

I see the hours quaff up a mother's tears
As the sun drinks dew upon a Devon hed<?e.

CA NAD1AN BOOKMAN

April, 1919.

The gun that camouflaged her brutal throat
In Bourlon's thicket

Shall dream to-night in wonder at the note
Of some lone cricket.

And that vast company we call the dead
Shall know the flag of peace flies overhead
Because of the new lightness of our tread.

and there was no need to borrow thunder from
McCrae's famous lyric, and the last four lines

are banal.

The indiscriminate Introduction, bracketing
this poet with Keats, naturally reminds me of
Gif ford's review. We are now told that Gif-
ford was blind to genius. Of course, he might
have seen some of "Endymion V purple patch-
es. It is easy to be wise after the event. I there-
fore plead that I have praised Mr. MacDonald's
purple patches, and dare say that if he pays as
much attention to my blame as Keats did to
Gif ford's scorching, we may have another
"Hyperion." The flashes here are blazing, and
the poet's own. We are told he designed the
cover of his book, and writes operas, libretto,
score and scenery, all by himself. Judging from
his verse, he has a streaky sort of genius in all
the arts, but he needs much more self-criticism.

Miss Holland's first volume of verse taken
as a whole, falls definitely into the category of
belles lettres.

This, rightly understood, is not doing it any
injustice; for belles lettres and minor poetry
(which are not the same thing) comprise that
field in which those random flowers grow for
the gathering of garlands. The major poet, in
his greater complexity, is like a tree whose roots
run down into the earth, and whose branches
spread upwards towards the sky.

The Greeks with their exquisite sense of the
fitness of things recognised this by plucking
the flowers for their anthologies and leaving
the branches upon their mighty stem.

If to-day the giants of the forest are few,
never were there so many or sweeter flowers;
and the true anthologist (not he who makes
selections from the work of major poets), light-
ing upon this book, will more than once delight-
edly exclaim, "And here is another!" Such
a flower is "The Little Dog-Angel."

Criticism of work of this nature seems not
only ungenerous, but beside the mark ; yet be-
cause there are hints of greater ambitions, it
must be attempted, however delicately.

One positive merit of Miss Holland's verse is
that it is, as verse, good. There is "ope" once
in a line in which "open" would read just as
easily, and "yore" somewhere else, and "neath"
somewhere else again, but these blemishes are
few. Most of the stock phrases are avoided.
These are things for which to be thankful. Yet,
on the other hand, there are few touches such as

"the medicine of your gladness" in "0 Littlest
Hands and Dearest." One swallow does not
make a summer, and a purple patch does not
make a poet ; but as the swallow is the herald
of summer, so the purple patch gives promise
of the imperial pomp. There is hardly an unex-
pected phrase.

As there is too little individual accent in the
phrase, so there is too little new in melody.
There are frank imitations such as "The Gen-
tlemen of Oxford, ' ' and others, with which there
can be no quarrel. But this conscious imitation
has unfortunately led to unconscious imitation,
notably in "Sea-Song" (Masefield's "Sea-
Fever"). "The Last Voyage" (Masefield's
"D'Avalos' Prayer"), "Ships of Old Renown"
(Masefield's "Cargoes"), "A Song of Erin"
(Ethna Carberry's "The Passing of the Celt"),
less so in "The Remittance Men" (Kipling
echo), "In Arcadie" (Noyes echo), while es-
pecially subtle is the relation between Miss Hol-
land's Celtic poems and those of Yeats, "A.E."
and Fiona MacLeod.

It is well that Miss Holland has such good
taste as to choose these poets for her models ;
but it is ill that we see so clearly not what she
is, but what she prefers.

There is promise in the variety of things at-
tempted in this book, but of none of them can
we say (as of most of Marjorie Pickthall's
"Drift of Pinions"), "No one else could have
written that!"

Miss Pickthall is a true, though limited poet,
because all but a few of her poems represent her
own spiritual experience, not merely her taste.
This gives to her poetry as a whole a certain
stamp as evident as that of any of the major
poets whose experience of life is more complex.
This stamp is the all-important thing. With-
out it one has hardly even a minor poet, but
only minor verse, or, as we have said, belles
lettres.

If Miss Holland can look more into her own
soul, and less into books, and exhibit the same
variety in a more deeply personal manner,
there will be a unity in that variety which will
make her more a poet, and less a writer of
poems — a distinction not without a difference.
As it is, we shall be happily content to re-
vert to our initial figure of speech, and to gather
another flower or two before we go.

"Our Dead" is a very fine poem indeed, one
of which anyone might be proud. "Newbury
Town" is an equally fine ballad. Of the Celtic
poems, "Easter 1917 In Memoriam Thomas
MacDonagh" is the most convincing.

We have chosen all "strong" poems — not be-
cause it is our preference (we yield to no one
in our appreciation of Celtic wistfulness when
it is not second-hand), but because we believe
that Miss Holland's originality inclines towards
strength, and we would encourage what is orig-
inal rather than what is derived.

Canadian poetry has been either so neglected
or has received such extravagant praise, that a
reflective review such as this which we have at-

April, 1919.

r \\ IDIAN BOOKMAN

tempted may mislead some readers, and we
therefore add thai Miss Holland's booh is one
to be bdught.

Mr. Hueffer, confessing that he lias written
prefaces enough, nevertheless defies once more
the proverb that qui s'excust s' accuse, and pub-
lishes his verses with a preface in which be says.
"The greater part of this book is, I notice on
putting it together, in either vers libr< or rhym-
ed vers libre. I am not goinj: to npologise for

tli is or to defend vers libre as such

Vers libre is the only medium in which I can
convey my more intimate moods. Vers librt
is a very jolly medium in which to write and to
read, if it bo read conversationally and quietly.
And anyhow, symmetrical or rhymed verse is
for me a cramped and difficult medium — or an
easy and uninteresting one. But 1 certainly
don't put the things forward with any jaunty
air or fling them in the faces of the critics."

Such a sophisticated writer as Mr. Hueffer
will hardly expect lis to accept this charming
naivete with equal insouciance, and according-
ly, undisarmed by it, let us pass judgment on
the work so introduced.

That it is generally strong, and often of great
beauty may be gladly admitted, and all the
more therefore does one regret the prosaic leav-
en in the poetic lump.

Setting aside all questions of rhythm, it is an
infinite pity that "Antwerp" should be par-
ticularly ruined by such a line as "Oh poor
dears!" That is to debase pity to bathos, or to
be insensible to the incongruous.

It is a striking book because the raw material
of poetry is inherently superior to mere versi-
fication, and the imaginative quality of the book
is very high, though more flashing than sus-
tained.

Yet compare "Footsloggers" to Masefield's
"August, 1914," both treating of the love of

one's land, and the difference between irripre
sioiis which are merely jotted down and those

which arc brooded upon is very apparent.

Again, take the title-poem. <>nc appreciates
Mr. Hueffer's prejudice against a merely for-
mal symmetry, and that the poet who essays it
is more often the slave than the inheritor of
tradition; nevertheless one cannot but feel on

reading this poem that it would not have been
emasculated if Mr. Hueffer had availed him-
self of the legacy left by Francis Thompson,

whose odes (and Mr. Hueffer's poems are odic
in form) exhibit every variety in length of line,
ami. while reasonably free in rhythm, never be-
come so lax as to be prose. One inevitably com-
pares this poem to the first part of "Sister
Songs," a not less personal poem than Mr.
Hueffer's, to his disadvantage.

It is not a coincidence that the loveliest parts
of Mr. Hueffer's poems do not stumble, but
sin"; — that they are not vera libre; for poetry-
is not "jolly." that is, colloquial; but intense
and lyrical.

That Mr. Hueffer can rise altogether above
colloquial impressioniam, and can conjure be-
fore us in a few lines a vision of a world brood-
ed upon in the imagination, is amply seen in
"A Solis Ortus Cardine . . ."

No doubt Mr. Hueffer has realised his inten-
tions equally in all the poems mentioned, but
one wishes that his intentions had more often
been directed towards the achievement of
beauty as well as vitality, as in the last named
poem: the former need not exclude the latter.

However, at least mere prettiness has been
avoided ; much that is lovely has been enshrin-
ed: far more lines are metrical than are not;
and if violence has sometimes been mistaken for
strength, it is a <rood fault.

The Incapacities of Democracy

The incapacity of a democratic community
for acting as the owner of a complicated piece
of business mechanism like a steam railway has
never been more vigorously portrayed than by
the pseudonymous author of "52 Questions on
the Nationalization of Railways," a booklet of
125 small pages bearing the signature of ' ' Fa-
bius" and published by Dent, Toronto. It is
a dramatic statement, with appropriate illustra-
tions, of the doctrine that profit and advance-
ment— more money or more power, authority
and responsibility — are the sole reliable incen-
tives for getting a man's best work out of him,
and that where there is no definite connection

between effort and this kind of reward, effort
will not be made. A recent school of economists
answer this doctrine by the assertion that the
motive of "service" — of doing good to others,
or to the commuuit.v — may be made equally
powerful, and that Public Ownership, by call-
ing on the motive of service and eliminating
the selfish motives, will get the very best that
men have in them. It is an interesting contro-
versy, but the side of Socialism will have to
work hard to produce as clever a statement of
its case as this statement of the side of Individ-
ualism, of the Selfish Motive as the Mainspring
of Progress.

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

April, 1919.

God, Conduct and Revelation

By J. E. WARD

Adler, Felix: "An Ethical PhiK-ophy of Life." Ap-
pleton, New York, $3.

Sellars, Roy Wood, Ph.D.: "The Next Step in Re-
ligion." MacMillan, Toronto. $2.

Bryant, Dr. Sophie: "How to Read the Bible in the
Twentieth Century." Dent, Toronto, $1.25.

TO weigh life and to explore its field of
action and reaction is ever interesting.
To do so in company with one at once so
reverently frank and frankly reverent as
Dr. Adler is a privilege well worth while. We
can but have deep respect for one who, in his
own words, finding his Mosaic religion but
truly a religious mosaic, feeling his faith of ex-
perience to have outgrown his faith of youth,
considered it but honorable to pass on into a
fuller quest.

Such a mind is hardly patient of the idea ot
finality in religion, whether Hebrew or Chris-
tian. In both these faiths Dr. Adler finds him-
self circumscribed in thought and in experience.
"The monotheistic idea in the one case, and the
centralitv of the figure of the Christ in the
other" mark for him the limits of development
or change. He, with many another religious
pilgrim, finds a deal too much in religious
teaching that is negative and circumscribed to
give it a strong ethical content.

Accepting, as a principle, the aim of life as
being "the affirmation of our ethical per-
sonality," of our spiritual nature, of "that
holy thing in us without which man loses his
worth," with all reverence for the "incompar-
able Author" of the Gospels, he fails to find
therein the positive need for the present com-
plex demand of society. He is quite frankly
opposed to the thought of "a faith once for
all delivered to the saints."

Nor is he patient of the Socialist position.
The Socialist is for Adler a sort of idealist
without an ideal— a man who lives so near the
mountain that he loses somewhat of the vision
of the far travel of the sun.

From a scholarly examination of the position
of Kant, in which there is much of value for
the student of philosophy, the writer passes
on to an intimately practical application of his
theory.

He places Personality at the centre ot his
system and pleads for a fuller insistence upon
spiritual values. He frankly accepts the more
sordid facts of life but gives even the prob-
lem of sin and evil a positive content.

For Dr. Adler, the supreme ethical rule
would be: "Act so as to elicit the sense of
unique distinctive selfhood as interconnected
with all other distinctive spiritual beings in
the infinite universe." His central idea is
"that the numen in the self is raised out of
potentiality into actuality by the energy put

forth to raise the numen in the other . . the
two divinities greeting each other as they rise
into the light." Thus his plan at once includes
and transcends both egoism and altruism. He
makes them minister to each other in the bring-
ing about of a higher ideal — a daring con-
ception indeed.

Enough has been said to lead the reader to
expect much of worth in the study of the social
relationships of life. The social institution,
the family, the organ of education, the voca-
tion, the political organization, the organiza-
tion of mankind and the ideal religious society
are treated in a progressive series each bring-
ing to the individual a fuller development of
ethical personality. There is little of life's
activity that Dr. Adler does not touch or does
not illumine. In the sphere_ of international
society the very "backward peoples of the
earth are the paramount object of reverence"
calling for a union of civilized nations "to
accomplish the pedagogy of the less de-
veloped.'

The main gain from his system would seem
to be the transformation of the strong in-
dividualistic trend in human nature into a
service which at once combines the features
of the individual and social claims without
denying either. He seems to stand in a un-
ique position in thought between orthodox
Christian teaching and the socialistic outlook,
and brings with his view a fuller contribution
in the way of solution of the problem of dual-
ism than we have hitherto met. There are
those who will take issue with him on the
ground that he has not done full justice to the
Christian faith, but Dr. Adler is presenting a
Philosophy of Life, and has chosen not to
draw distinctions between what might be call-
ed pure and orthodox Christianity. Had he
done so it may be that he would have found
far less of the negative, of dualism, of trans-
cendental outlook, of insistence on sin, in the
mind of the Nazarene than in that of many of
his professed followers.

When an author sets out to tell us the Next
Step in Keligion and takes the whole of our
time in recounting for us the myths of "Meso-
pot" or Patagonia, what shall we say? We
would be fair. There is need for a close
examination of our beliefs in the light of mod-
ern knowledge, in whatever field. There is
great need for the upbuilding of the positive
content of our faith. We would even clasp
the critic's hand for the marvelous labor he
lias performed. Yet there are critics and
critics, and a book which claims to give a sum-
mary of the results of higher criticism must
give us more of edification than a trio sung

April, 1919.

C i.\ I/'/ I A BOOKMAN

in a minor key by our old friends Loisy,
Pfleiderer and Gilbert Murray.

We do not feel thai we have a sure guide
when we find the author using a <'<>mpass, the
worth of which he has already denied; e.g.,
it is not permissible to quite the authority of
Mark when Mark's value is questioned. Nor
do we feel sure of a writer who speaks of the
Christian conception of Jesus as a "master
piece of lyricized mythology," and in the next
breath tells us that the success of Christian
ity was due to its "connection with a noble
personality."

The fact seems to be that Dr. Sellars writes
more fluently than he thinks. The basic be-
liefs of religion must stand the test of exam-
ination as those of any other phase of life.
Christianity, if its claims be true, must learn
•to welcome such examination and to search
even farther than her critics would force her
to go. But examination must be undertaken
in a constructive spirit to be of worth.

Having taken fifteen out of sixteen of the
chapters of his book to assure us that all our
beliefs are pure myth (though he says it may
be "more plausible to give a relative credence"
to the belief that such a person as Jesus ever
existed), to show us that all such small matters
as immortality, personal agency, the problem
of evil, the worth of anything in the shape of
prayer, or the reality of the supernatural are
neither here nor there, we wronder that Dr.
Sellars confesses to anv difficulty with regard

to the retention of the use of the word 're-
ligion.' One may be fully grateful that he
has not questioned such a dearly divine attn
bute as a sense of humor. Mut what really is
"The Next Step*"....

Religion is to be "human and social," a
thing "of this world," "without a supernat-
ural," "concerned with virtues and values,"
and "catholic in its count of such." Having
gone thus far in justification of the title of
his book, our author leaves us with the remark
that "Man's soul will crave <rracious sur-
roundings." We had thoughl he had denied
thai he had a soul. Well, well; he has given
us much of generality, much of contradiction
and evasion, not a little of imagination and
questionable assertion, but all so jauntily writ-
ten that— we are not cross.

Many a teacher will be glad to have Miss
Bryant's guidance in handling the material of
the Bible in class work. Herein the theme of
the Bible is regarded as the progressive revela-
tion of God to man through man, culminating
in Christ, God and Man. The study of the
theme is approached by the Gospel narrative,
followed by the Apostolic history and the
spiritual history of the Hebrew. A course of
readings from the Bible and other books is
recommended.

There is much that is good and provocative
of thought in such a new presentation — there
would be gain as well as loss in its acceptance
en bloc.

Pioneers

By J. A. DALE

T TREAD again the ancient way
That westward burns,
And strike again the ancient clay
A new race turns :
The shadow of an ancient day
Once more returns.

In my heart there wakes again

From out the deep
The spirit of forgotten men

Who agelong sleep
Far beyond our tiny ken

Their gains who keep.

II.

Prometheus, whose auspicious fire

Unsought began
The conquest which his sons lift higher

As each one can —
He made us heirs of earth's empire,

Maker of Man!

He never soared on splendid wings

Rifling the skies —
In labour's vague imaginings

He lit tired eyes,
And slowly mid transfigured things

Let bent backs rise.

III.

For us with mighty thews they strove

A space to win,
And paths through sightless forest drove,

Let sunlight in :
With pain the clod, the rock they clove,

For undreamt kin.

Yet they too watched as from the ground

The lark uprose,
And children met them homeward bound

At the long day('s close,
And at their feet in gloom they found

The waiting rose.

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

April, 1919.

The Author of "Sonia"

By J. E. WARD

IN those far days before the war, when
one could peacefully wander over the
Berkshire fields, it was good to stray
from the beaten track in search of some na-
ture's secret and incidentally sense the good
English sunlight. For England has her sun
in spite of much maligning — a mellow, caress-
ing sun.

Thus employed, or unemployed, it was that
I remember first chatting with the future
author of 'Sonia" — I, a stranger in a strange
land; he — well, I doubt whether Stephen
MeKenna would ever be a stranger in any
land.

Well, could I picture now the probable cir-
cumstances of his day. London had claimed
him these few days past, as London will. A
short run down on the evening express had
found him ensconced at Twyford in the pa-
ternal car ready for a three-mile country run
— and ready for dinner, in the old oak-beamed
and broad hearthed dining room.

So some music and then to bed — no, the
family would go to bed — not so Stephen.
Long past the time when a peaceful country-
side had settled in to rest — long after the
church clock at the crossroads had struck
the midnight hour, " Sonia 's" creator might
be counted on in smoking jacket somewhere
beneath that gabled roof drinking deep of
the wealth of England's storied lore. He
would read everything and marvellously re-
membered it. Then sometime between mid-
night and dawn one may presume that Stephen
may have gone to bed. No-one seems ever to
have caught him at it.

Nor was he ever to be seen at the break-
fast hour. Fond noon would rouse him, or
tempt him forth — what should lesser mortals
know of his rising. And the afternoon sun
would company with him over the fields.
The acme of lazy leisure, you would say. Yet,
though Stephen's clock seemed to have been
wound some hours overlate, one could not
say that there was not deep profit for him in
its winding. He gained men's richest in
companionship; he stored up hours of quiet
in the early night; and stowed himself away
when least there was to lose in the English
winter.

This was the Stephen, in Norfolk greys,
that now was chatting with me jauntily, as
only Stephen could.

Far hidden among a group of stalwart
Berkshire trees, the curling smoke marked
where a gabled home housed his father's
hospitality.

Many a day's gratitude has there been in
the writer's heart for hours spent beneath
those warm red tiles. There was no board

throughout the countryside more lavish.
There was no hearthside talk more full of
wit than that where gathered a small family
circle trained from childhood days in a keen
environment charged with active interest in
the social and political life of their great
land.

The name of MeKenna is a name that has
placed its mark upon English life. It is a
name that will still be known wThere English
politics hold keen sway.

And now it finds its way in Literature —
for "Sonia" will live perhaps as few of our
war novels . It is more than a mere war
novel — a strong, deep record in fiction's name
of those great days when England's bridge
of destiny needs must be crossed.

A delightful environment it was — this
country home called "Honeys" — for any au-
thor's youth, and " Sonia V early pages
breathe full of it. A fond younger son writes
fluently of that easy-going leisured life
which was his before the war. And insofar
as he writes thus, he writes, in a sense, class
biography.

There, one remembers him, the youngest
born of a fond little gray-haired kindly lady;
the pride of a most astute old gentlemanly
Pater; debonair, full of youth's joy in enter-
ing intb his own.

There in those old timbered comfort-laden
rooms he was the typical .young graduate of
"the House," quite consciously content in
the knowledge of his gift. Slight of build.
always immaculate, ever keen, palpably well
kept and ably groomed, at times with a tinge
of youthful cynicism in his outlook, yet kind-
ly so. And now he has grown up.

If you don't believe it, read "The Reluc-
tant Lover," and then read "Sonia." They
are the products of the heart and mind of
the two worlds of which he speaks.

The gay, carefree tramper of the country
lanes in well-spun Norfolks we hope will
never go. Yet knowledge may pass to wis-
dom, and not lose its joy.

The Stephen of "Peckwater Quad" and
Berkshiredom is now, we feel, more the deni-
zon of old London's clubs, and politico-
social rendezvous. He is even about to take
unto himself a wife from the late Premier's
hearthside.

Bless the lad — too many of his class have
gone and left our literature poorer. It is
good to feel that some there are still left to
wield a ready pen.

Can he write another Sonia? It is a tale
not easily twice told, yet mayhap we shall
see. He is but at the threshold of life's broad
way.

April. 1919.

Canadian boos, i/i \

Notes of New Books

Florence Howe Ball, daughter of Julia Ward
Howe, das ready "Memories Grave and Gay,"

which will contain many reminiscences of
leading American and European literary cele-
brities.

There are more authors per capita, if not
per acre, in British Columbia than in any
other Canadian Province. In the mild climate
of the Pacific Coast it is comparatively easy to
keep warm in a garret, and the ink does not
freeze.

One of the best of recent books for students
of journalism, though it does not purport to be
a textbook, is Frank M. O'Brien's "Story of
the Sun," which explains in full detail how
cleverness and human sympathy in the treat-
ment of news built up a great New York news-
paper property out of literally nothing.

Though 1918 has been very short of biogra-
phies in England, it has, perhaps for that rea-
son, been very full of them in the United
States. The immensely enhanced sense of na-
tional self-respect that followed the entry and
effective work of the United States into the
great war was a stimulus to American bio-
graphy and history. The cleverest, if not the
most important, biography of the year is
probably "The Education of Henry Adams."

"Old Days on the Farm," by A. C. Wood,
is a modest literary effort, not without a dis-
tinct flavour of its own — the charm that conn
try roads, wayside flowers and fragrant fields
have for the town-dweller, and that a really
heart-felt appreciation of the farm has for
the country-born. Mr. Wood's Pegasus is a
gently ambling, bucolic steed, which stops to
browse on every fence corner, munch an apple
from every orchard, and listen to the farmers
swapping yarns at every cross-road. The
excellent photographic studies of farm scenes
add greatly to the appearance of the volume.
(McClelland, Goodchild & Stewart, Toronto,
$1.50).

The reader who buvs "The White Rook," by
J. B. Harris-Burland (Gundy, Toronto, $1.50)
to increase his knowledge of the habits of the
feathered folk, may suffer some disappointment
in finding that he has secured "a crow of quite
another colour" — a very readable book turn-
ing on the mutual fascination of the study of
chess for a retired medical specialist and explor-
er with a young and unappreciated second wife,
the army officer whom she jilted, and a Chin-
ese spy. The latter possesses a secret drug
that paralyses the will-power of the absorber, an
undying spirit of revenge against the doctor,
and a qualified admiration for the military
man, and the complications that arise from these
motives will hold the attention during the read-
ing even if they do not remain in the memory
afterwards.

There is a boom in translations or fiction,

and plays from the Spanish, a circumstance
Which is hard to explain in view of the seal

ly glorious pari played by thai country in the

war, but may be due to the intrinsic merit and
activity of the Spanish writers „f the day.

In view of the fact that Canada has long
possessed a novelist bearing the name of F
Clifford Smith, author of several popular
works, it seems sad that England should now
come along with a new writer calling himself
Clifford Smyth. Is this not a colorable imi-
tation?

A volume calculated to stimulate thought in
those who are capable of envisaging a rather
violently novel idea is "The Abolition of In-
heritance" by Harlan Eugene Read (Macmil-
lan, $1.50). Professor Read declares that the
right to inherit property is no more sacred
than the right to inherit authority; but he
does not ask that we abolish inheritance alto-
gether and immediately. A limit of $100,000
seems to him reasonable.

"Kiddies," by J. J. Bell (Copp, Clark Co.,
Toronto. $1.50), is a collection of short stories
about children in the now well-khown "Wee
Macgregor" manner. A certain monotony of
flavor, as of a surfeit of butterscotch, may be
perceived if one reads them all together. The
children are all so cute, and the parents so
stodgy and unimaginative and uncomprehend-
ing; and then something happens and a great
light dawns on the parents and all is lovely.
But taken in mild doses these "Kiddie" stor-
ies will be found entertaining, and may help
some of us grown-ups to remember what we
were like when we were young, and conse-
quently to be kinder to the juveniles of to-day.

There is one thing you may always unhesi-
tatingly prognosticate about Kathleen Norris's
books, and that is that you may safely place
them in the hands of the youngest of young
persons. They are so sweetly pretty, don't you
know, that even though, as in the case of
"Josselyn's Wife," the hero does fall in love
with his own stepmother, and is cast into jail
for the suspected murder of his own father,
you feel satisfyingly sure that virtue will be
triumphant and sin will be followed by retri-
bution, as in this case, when the hero acquires
tuberculosis during his stay in prison. The
heroine is always so perfectly lovely, both in
face and character, and the "bad woman" is
always so vampirish, and so sure of being pun-
ished, that you feel just as if you were read-
ing a grown-up "Elsie" Book. Mrs. Norris
has a host of devoted admirers who "just
love" her books, and one feels sure that
they will fairly "eat up" "Josselyn's Wife,"
(Briggs, Toronto).

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

April, 1919.

"The Tin Soldier" is a novel by Temple Bailey
(Copp, Clark & Co., Toronto, $1.50.) Because
his dad — the old General — was in the habit of
indulging in occasional bacchanalian bouts,
dear Derry Drake was unable to obey his coun-
try's call and don the khaki of the American
Expeditionary Force. The General's failings,
and a sacred promise to his dead mother never
to leave the wayward papa, kept Derry in the
ranks of the healthy slackers, much to Derry 's
discomfiture. There are some women charac-
ters in the story, which has its locale in Wash-
ington and the society of the idle rich. Really,
the story was so uninteresting that it was quite
an effort to read it. Plot and "pep" are both
lacking, and we cannot predict for "The Tin
Soldier" any lasting place among the play-
things of literary humanity.

It all took place in "The Room With the
Tassels." The tassels shook mysteriously.
There was an aroma of prussic acid, although
the murder for which the room was historic
had been performed (with that pleasant poi-
son) fifty years before. The spectre of the
murderess walked into the room through a
locked door at midnight, and blew out the
candles of the unfortunate ghost-hunter who
happened to be sleeping there. Other things,
equally eerie, happened. And there is a rea-
sonable explanation of the whole spine-chilling
yarn. Carolyn Wells tells it, and it is a thriller.
Some people will wish that she had spent the
time on those nonsense verses which she does
to such perfection. Others will wonder how on
earth a woman who can write ghost yarns like
this can waste her time on nonsense verses.
(McClelland, Goodchild & Stewart, Toronto,
$1.40.)

"White Man," by George Agnew Chamber-
lain (McLeod, Toronto, $1.75). We presume
that the moving-picture rights were much more
constantly in the mind of the author of this
tale than any mere literary ambitions. It is
necessary now-a-days for a good moving-pic-
ture that the hero and the heroine should be,
as the slip-cover of "White Man" puts it,
"forced together by circumstances to live in
the heart of the African jungle" (or on a desert
island, or in the coldest part of Alaska, or on
an inaccessible peak of the Rockies, or at the
bottom of an abandoned mine — anywhere so
long as they are not restricted by the pro-
prieties), and that while keeping constantly
in the minds of themselves and their readers
or audience the naughty things that they
might be doing, they should rigorously persist
in not doing them. Mr. Chamberlain's novel
fills all these essential requirements, and adds
much good screen material in the shape of
aeroplanes, elephants, African kraals, hunting
parties, and lots of diminuendo changes of
dress for the heroine. Presumably Miss Mar-
guerite Clark w ill play the heroine; any screen
actor with a g ood chest and an honest face
can do "White Man,"

"Sinister House," by Leland Hall (Thomas
Allen, Toronto, $1.50), is a tour-de-force of
technical dexterity in ghostliness, by a new
author. The slightest indication of the clue
to the mystery would impair much of the read-
er's enjoyment. It must therefore be merely
recorded that this is (to the best of our be-
lief) the first ghost story in which a Ford car
has ever played conspicuous part, that it is
a story which the most hardened reader will
find it impossible to lay down, and that its
moral tone is unexceptionable. It is a person
who is "haunted" by ghosts, not a place, and
as soon as he can nerve himself to confess to
his wife the very excusable wrong-doing in
his past life, which gives them their power
over him, they are baffled and depart. But
there, we promised not to give so much as a
hint. Unlike most ghost stories, this one has
several characters which are very human and
well-drawn.

Childhood's shuddering delight in ghost
stories is scarcely dead, even at seventy, and
Amelie Rives' "The Ghost Garden," is such
an engaging, not to say charming nightmare
that it should find rapid sale among those
who love to be made to quake comfortably by
the fire-side. The Princess Troubetzkoy (Ame-
lie Rives) takes one's imagination gently by
the hand and leads it to a beautiful deserted
mansion where a pretty lady had died in a
tantrum some years before. Creeps abound on
every page from page 13 to the end. The
ghost is intricately connected with the love af-
fair on which the story is threaded, and is by
far the most interesting person in the book
The whole matter is sweetened — perhaps a
trifle too much — with love-making of the kind
approved by disappointed widows and poetic
spinsters ; and scented faintly with spiritualist
notions. The interest is sustained and the
ending satisfying. (S. B. Gundy, Toronto,
$1.50.)

Red-headed Irish orphans, female and eigh-
teen, should not be willed to the guardianship
of boyish American lawyers with proud but
passionate natures. That it can be done with-
out scandal is apparently proven by H. DeVere
Stacpoole in a novel entitled "The Ghost Girl,"
but Mr. Stacpoole has proven many a more
interesting contention. The play, "Peg 0' My
Heart," once so popular, was the first of this
new style in heroines and, one might have
hoped, the last. But Mr. Stacpoole has appar-
ently dragged Peg back out of the happy mar-
riage another writer framed for her, made
her his own, dubbed her "Phyl." and clamped
her between the covers of his book with a
view to captivating us all over again. The
story is readable and has the conventional
flourish of joy at the end. From any other
author it might be called fair light reading.
But from Stacpoole it is disappointing. "The
Blue Lagoon" was of another order of magni-
tude altogether. (S. B. Gundy, Toronto, $1.50.)

April, I9ld.

' i \ADIAN bookman

Kipling's ".Jungle Hook" has passed its fif
tieth edition in the United States, and lias the
steady sale of a classic — which it is.

Very slight domestic matters (if, indeed any
domestic matters are slight to the poet who
truly, and Englishman-wise, loves his home)
are the theme of the versifications of R. C.
Lehmann in "The Vagabond" (Dent, Toronto,
$1.25), all but two of which an' extracted from
recent issues of Punch. A robin that wanders
into a bedroom, a tortoise-shell eat which is al-
leged by- the children to be a dragon, the mis-
behavior of a Pekinese — such are the topics
touched by Mr. Lehmann 's wonderfully light
and dexterous hand. But somehow they look-
ed more at home in Punch than in a volume,
even a dear little 120-page volume like this.

The Musson Book Company, Limited, have
commenced the publication of what is an-
nounced to be the complete works of Am-
brose Bierce, the American market being
looked after in the same way by Boni & Live-
right. The reputation of this very distin-
guished American writer has been steadily on
the rise for the last ten years, a movement
probably due in no small degree to the dis-
cerning estimate of him given by the late Per-
cival Pollard, in his brilliant volume of criti-
cism, "Their Day in Court" — an estimate
which might well be reprinted as preface to
one of the forthcoming volumes. The first
and only volume issued up to the present is
"In the Midst of Life," formerly known on
this continent as "Tales of Soldiers and
Civilians," an example of the macabre and
grizzly short story, which is certainly un-
rivalled outside of Edgar Allen Poe. It is not
Bierce 's best work, but it is the best book for
drawing public attention to his work. (Mus-
son, Toronto, $1.50.)

"Cap'n Jonah's Fortune," by James A.
Cooper, is an interesting little story of some
quaint 'longshore folk, told in the simple pleas-
ing manner of Mr. Cooper's previous tales of
Cape Cod. Little Pearly Holden, the heroine
of the book, is "articled out" to Orrin and
Sarah Petty of the Shell Road, Card-
haven. She lives the life of the drudge with
these distant relatives of her dead mother, un-
til the arrival at the "Orrin Petty 's place" of
Cap'n Jonah Hand. The old sea captain, tired
of life on the briny deep, has come to Cardhav-
en to end his days and nurse his rheumatism in
the home of "Niece Sarah." The harsh treat-
ment which poor Pearly receives soon arouses
his indignation, and by means of an imaginary
fortune he manages to pla.v fairy godmother to
Pearly's Cinderella. Through the medium of
some "ile shares" long considered worthless,
the imaginary fortune conveniently becomes a
real one, and little Pearly and the ' ' city feller ' '
in the tortoishell glasses, who "teaches fish
to hatch their aigs" end under the mistletoe.
(Briggs, Toronto, $1.50.)

"The Marne," bj Edith Wharton (Appleton,
N 5T., $1.25). Taken as a whole this is a
slight ami inconsequential sketch of a subject
of which Canadians are becoming not a little
fatigued, namely the "regeneration" of the
Tinted States by its war effort. But when
Mrs, Wharton is satirising the pre-war Amer-
ican- .she is in her element. Delirious indeed
is Binde Waslick, the girl from the Middle
West, who in 1917 wanted "to organize an
< lid Home Week just like ours, all over France,
from Barver righl down to Marseilles. And all
through the devastated regions too."

It would require a surly spirit indeed not to
enjoy "The Caravan Man," a novel by one
who is apparently a new author, but one who
possesses the essential faculty of being amus-
ing by evident gift of nature. Ernest Good-
win, the author, has been justly upbraided for
that his best female character disappears from
sight on page 44, never to reappear save as
the merest goddess of the machine at the very
instant of the tale's conclusion. For our-
selves we refiise to weep for her; we are con-
vinced that Mr. G-oodwin is saving her for
another novel. And it would have been a
strain on even a veteran author to keep up
the conversation between her and the artist-
hero on the level of joyous insouciance set by
the opening chapters. What matter it that the
life of a painter of the nude is seldom really
as adventurous as it is here represented T The
public must be permitted to imagine romance
in some quarter or other of the body politic,
and where can it be if not in that which is
dignified by the title of Latin* A twittering
tale of youth and beauty and the outdoor life,
wthout a trammel of realism. (Thomas Al-
len, Toronto, $1.50.)

"The War Eagle," by W. J. Dawson (Dent,
Toronto, $1.50), is another novel of the
psychological changes effected by the war. Its
author, who is well known in Canada as an
eloquent preacher and speaker at Canadian
Club luncheons and the like, has recently ac-
quired a farm in British Columbia, and his
pictures of pre-war life among the fruit-
ranches of the Kootenay Valley is vivid and
charming. "When the war gets going the hero,
a novelist, removes to New York, and has some
interesting passages with his publisher, a char-
acter whom one suspects of being portrayed
from life. The heroine, the daughter of a war-
contract millionaire, also turns up in New
York, and we see the process of the rubbing
off of surface frivolities, and the revelation
of the real quality of the woman underneath,
which has formed the subject of rather num-
erous novels lately. The millionaire and the
publisher get drowned on the Lusitania and
the hero and the heroine eventually go to war
and learn to love one-another unselfishly and
nobly. Mr. Dawson is very much in earnest
about it all, and the book will be widely
popular.

CANADIAN BOOKMAN

April. 19-lS.

Hergesheimer's " Java Head "

IN our last issue we drew attention to the
fact that the United States can now
boast of the possession of an entirely
modern novelist, who has in high degree
the quality or qualities of distinction in idea
and in expression. "Java Head," the latest
book by Joseph Hergesheimer, whose "Three
Black Pennys" was reviewed in the January
number, is in one respect inferior to its pre-
decessor. Mr. Hergesheimer is not strong on
construction. He does not see a novel whole,
in all its complicated ramifications, when he
starts to write, and pursue a definite if devious
path to an assured end. In the "Pennys" this
did not greatly matter, for the book was avow-
edly a succession of episodes, related only by
heredity and comparison. But in "Java Head
Mr. Hergesheimer has undertaken to fill up 250
pages with one story, and to do so he has had
to introduce minor episodes which have the
stuck-on appearance of unrelated ornament.
Thus the episode — astonishingly clever in itself
— of Roger Brevard, the middle-aged lover, and
Sidall Ammidon, his school-girl beloved, facing
her coldly contemptuous parents, the girl eager
to make a stand for her freedom and her love,
but the man struck dumb by the sense of his
own inadequacy — this episode, on which the
book practically closes, seems to have absolute-
ly no relation with the general theme, and pro-
duces the effect of a violent change of key too
near to the end of the piece. We may be wrong

in this; there may be a subtle, tonal relation-
ship, which will become more apparent as we
grow more familiar with the workings of Mr.
Hergesheimer's mind. In any case we do not
advance it as an important defect ; structure is
not a highly-regarded element in the modern
novel.

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